Reaching Norvys
by Arysthae
Summary: "He has legs, he's naked and he's bleeding all over the cove." I said. There was a pause. I could almost hear Conor's head whirring and thinking about the sensible thing to do.' Continues on from my previous Ingo fic. Rated T for situations.
1. Chapter 1

**Reaching Norvys**

**AN: This is a continuation of 'Crossing of Ingo: AU' after the Crossing finishes. I'll let Faro take over story-time now.**

Faro sighed as he escorted yet another previous supporter of Ervys to Saldowr to get their 'redemption' from him. Faro found it hard for him to forgive them, after all the damage they had done to Ingo, but Saldowr repeatedly told him to keep calm and carry on. He had laughed after that, as if had been funny. Faro had not understood.

It had been two months since he'd taken Elvira to the North and said goodbye. It hadn't been easy for him, watching her change in front of his eyes the closer to the North they approached. She was more alive than she had ever been and it hurt Faro to acknowledge it. He didn't understand why Elvira wanted to follow her Atka, Sapphire had been terrified by it that night she'd realized she loved him.

He shook his head as yet another person approached. But Faro felt his muscles go stiff as he recognized the face coming closer. _Bannerys. _

He couldn't take his old friend, old brother to Saldowr. He couldn't do it. He turned tail and fled, as far away as he could. Why wouldn't Sapphire come? She would have faced him and resolved to treat him with a great air of scorn and would forgive him almost instantly. Faro...found himself at a loss of what to do and hoped Sapphire would return soon.

(X)

I really hate my life sometimes. Why it had to be _my _geography project that was about marine ecology, I'm not quite sure but I'm sure it's fate making fun of me. Every dolphin I drew I thought of Seiliko and the flight of dolphins. With every shark I drew, I thought of the Groves of Aleph, Ervys and Saldowr. With every seal, I thought of the North and my Atka and, all of the project inevitably led to thinking about Faro. Because he personified Ingo and the sea to me. My link into that world before I carved my place into myself.

I groaned and threw the pencil to the floor and hit my head on the table. Conor came down the ladder, with a sleepy look on his face, wrapped around by a duvet, with a look of puzzlement on his face. I almost giggled at the splodge of ink across the side of his face.

"What's up, Saph?" he asked, looking worried.

I struggled to keep my laughter in and replied, "GSCE's are a pain in the neck." I was impressed at myself, I was lying and telling the truth at the same time because they were annoying but not for the reasons Conor would assume.

Conor must have taken my shaking voice to mean I was upset about this instead of desperately trying not to laugh. "They are difficult, but you've got to stick to it. You picked subjects you liked and were good at, surely that should help." He gestured wildly and the splodge on his face wobbled.

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing and Conor looked mightily confused.

"What's wrong with you, Saph?" I struggled to stop laughing like a madwoman and failed, so pointed at my replacement mirror, a simple silver mirror, unlike the sea-decorated one of before.

He sighed when he noticed the large splodge and wiped it away wearily on the duvet cover. He sat on the end of my bed until I had managed to calm down.

"Now you're sane, what's really wrong, Saph?" he asked.

"I don't think I can keep our little pact Conor. You wanted me to leave Ingo behind. I can't. It's easier for you, you feel alive here. I feel more alive when I'm in Ingo. I do belong on Earth but I can't forget Ingo either." I said, letting my bottled-up emotions of two months escape.

Conor looked at me. "What brought this on then?" he queried, his brow furrowed. I pointed at my geography project. He read the title and winced slightly at my pictures of oil covered animals and polluted seas.

"That's just ********." Conor said.

I laughed. "Like to say that when Mum's around?"

"How come fate is such a *****?"

I just looked at Conor. "You've been hanging around Mal's mates, haven't you?" I asked him and he grinned shamelessly.

"You need to try forgetting Ingo. _And_ the people in it." said Conor, overwhelming my protest. Could everyone read my mind now?

"You wouldn't ever leave Rainbow behind, would you? You wouldn't try to forget her and move on when NOTHING had happened! Stop being an ass Conor! I'm going to Ingo now, you can't stop me! Homework can go cover itself in oil and burn!" I yelled. I didn't know where it had all come from and by the shocked look on his face, neither did Conor. I regretted shouting immediately but I couldn't apologize so I walked downstairs.

Sadie immediately bounded up to me and butted her nose into my legs as if to tell me, '_walk time'. _I laughed at scratched behind her ears I started walking towards the kitchen and she padded away in front of me. Mum's still in the kitchen, she came back from Australia a month ago and got back to work, but she says she still feels like she's on holiday because of all the work Conor and I help her with. It's more than a normal student would do, but it's a lot less than what I did when she was gone, which is relief-inducing, if it wasn't for GSCE's.

"Hey mum," I say, as I grab a cup and some orange juice from the cupboard and fridge respectively.

"Hey Sapphy. Did I hear raised voices a moment ago?" she asked as she applied her lipstick to the mirror.

"Yeah, I was shouting at my homework, it's really annoying." I no longer felt the twinge of guilt for lying to my mum, like I used to.

"Well, stick at it sweetie, okay? Love you." She said, kissing my cheeks and pushing a stray stand of hair out of my face. "Oh Sapphy, your hair is horrible. Wash it okay?" she said, and I rolled my eyes. She always said that, no matter what I did to it. Unlike Mum's it wasn't straight and wouldn't stay flat.

I waited till she got in the car and drove out then ran upstairs and quickly changed into my wetsuit, the water was too cold to swim without it in December. I ran downstairs again and grabbed some shoes. Conor came down the stairs too. He looked at me and nodded and I knew my anger was completely dissolved. I hugged him.

"What was that for, Saph?" he asked, looking confused.

"Nothing," I say, "Absolutely nothing!"

He looked confused but shrugged it off. "Come home for lunch, okay? I think Rainbow might be popping over, not sure if Patrick's coming, it's his shift at The Green Room this morning and it's probably going to run over, there's a bunch of tourists with surfboards in St. Pirans. Take your phone too." He said, throwing me it from the counter. I caught it quickly.

"Gosh Conor, you sound like mum or a military officer. I'll be fine! Besides, where am I supposed to put it? I can't take it with me to Ingo!" I said. Sadie whined at the name and I stroked her.

"Keep it hidden by one of the rocks that don't get reached by high tide. Have it just in case you get into trouble."

I was doubtful of it's helpfulness in an emergency, but I didn't want to fight with Conor for any longer so nodded and gingerly accepted it.

Sadie whined as I turned towards the door. I sighed, this was the part about going to Ingo I really didn't like.

"I'm going to Ingo Sadie, you can't come, you'd hurt yourself too much coming down to the cove and you can't breathe underwater." Sadie whined and I ruffled her fur before slipping out the door.

I breathed in the fresh sea air; this was what I loved about living in Senara. It was later in the morning, all the mist had rolled away and the bright sunshine glowed upon the gravel pathway and the small road leading to the cove was only a little distance away. I heard a voice and turned around. Illuminated by sunlight, someone was running towards me. I groaned slightly, this would be another delay in going to Ingo. As the person drew closer, I recognized it as one of my older friends, Katie.

"Well well, look who's out here after a decade of disappearance?" teased Katie and I laughed, I had missed her voice.

"You know, GSCE's taking up time and chores after chores!" I said and she grinned. Lying to my friends had gotten quite routine, it was rather a shame.

"You can't hide forever! Now your mum's back, you can come out sometime! There's a party on Monday to celebrate school at the beach at night. We were going to do it yesterday but Josie and her lot had already thought of it and dominated the beach. Who'd want to party with them?"

I kept quiet and let her talk out all her frustration, Katie was a good friend who'd always stood for me, but she got so worked up about little things. Once upon a time they would have been big to me too, but Ingo changed my perspective of the Air world so much about how different we were.

"Well then?" she asked and I realized I had missed her question.

"Sorry, I didn't catch the last part. What was that?" I asked and Katie rolled her eyes.

"I said, do you want to come to the party? Conor's already coming and bringing a few of his mates so you should bring your friends over too!" beamed Katie.

I thought about Rainbow. Would she want to go to something like this? Rainbow wasn't much for large crowds of people.

"I might bring Rainbow down with me. She's Conor's girlfriend so he might have already invited her but I'll do it anyway. If I suddenly make a new friend in the next 2 days I will bring whoever else with me too." I said with a tired tone. I probably had more friends than Rainbow but now, all I could think about was going back into Ingo and surfing a current and seeing Faro again.

Katie smiled at me tiredly and skipped away without a word of goodbye. I forgot how anti-social she could be after she'd got what she'd wanted.

I slipped down the rocks on my way down to the cove. Halfway down, I tucked my phone and my shoes behind a dry cove between two clumps of red seaweed. The high tide didn't reach this far so I felt it was going to be quite safe in there.

I reached the beach after what seemed like a lifetime and felt the soft sand squeezing its way into my toes. The sea rolled its way in and I could almost hear the whisper of the waves. I ran into the water as fast as I could and submerged myself into Ingo with a thought. It felt all so easy and the salt water ebbed inside of me.

I searched with my thoughts to see if I could find any living creature of Ingo close to me. A shoal of fish were the only ones I could sense. I swam close towards them and asked in full Mer, "Where are the Groves of Aleph?"

They all pointed to a current that was south of us and to come out when the water turned clearer. I thanked them and swam southwards lazily. I found the current easily; it was hard to miss it. It glowed and rippled with the cold winter light coming from above. I plunged into the current immediately and didn't bother to swim and let it take me closer to the Groves of Aleph where Faro was.

I let my mind wander, from where I lay, out into my future. I had promised Conor I wouldn't leave Mum and him the way Dad had, but I belonged here and I had no idea what to do. I made up my mind to start swimming, Faro would know what to do.

(X)

When I finally arrived at the part of the current that the water started turning clear; I broke through the current and floated in the fresh water, feeling the sun on my skin. Despite it being winter, it was still surprisingly warm. The amount of creatures in the vicinity had improved greatly, the closest being the starfish cloistered on the rock. I was about to ask them for directions to the Groves of Aleph when I felt Faro's mind enter what I like to call my 'Ingo-radar'. I grinned, and swam as fast as I could towards his presence.

"FARO!" I called, as loud as I could. He turned around and the look of surprise and delight felt amazing. He had missed me just as much as I had missed him. He kicked his way towards me and I threw myself into a huge hug around him. He gripped me tightly and all I could think of was how long I'd imagined this moment.

I loosened my grip and looked up at his face. He looked different, older and more tensed.

"Sapphire..." he breathed and he kissed me. I had forgotten how much I'd loved this intoxication with him.

"How have you been?" I asked him after he'd stopped kissing me.

"How have _you_ been?" he asked in reply, slyly redirecting the question like I remembered him doing.

"I've been better. You?"

"I've been better too." He said, looking tormented. I wondered what he'd been doing these past two months. Whatever it was, it must have been stressful because the look on his face was something I hadn't seen before.

"I guess this is the part of growing up no one ever tells you about, huh?" I said, feeling slightly bitter, "Now answer my question properly, because I asked first, what have you been doing?"

Faro ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "We've been rebuilding. There were more skirmishes while we were completing the Crossing. People's lives and homes were destroyed. We're not only helping rebuild physical things but people's opinions. No one's quite sure what to do or think anymore. It's my job to talk to them and if they want more, to Saldowr. It's—" He cut off his sentence and looked away.

"Difficult?" I asked him and he reluctantly nodded. I smiled. "You don't have to hide that from me, no one's infallible. Everyone needs some downtime," I said. I suppressed a bout of laughter at Faro's puzzled look.

"It's like chilling out." I said. He still looked confused. "Like _give-me-five_." His face cleared and he raised his hand. I know what he wanted but I kissed him instead and he pouted afterwards.

"Come on," I said, "Let's go see Saldowr."

(X)

"...Conor isn't coming back to Ingo then." Faro said flatly as I related my reasons and responsibilities for not coming to Ingo as we neared the Groves.

"He's second-best in Ingo. He feels more at home on earth. And he has a girlfriend there. Rainbow. She's very friendly." I said, projecting an image of her on Kylie Newton's horse, Treacle to Faro.

"What is the brown creature?" asked Faro, looking confused. I laughed.

"That's a horse Faro. They're quite common on Earth."

"So that's what a horse looks like!" he said, looked astounded. "I did not imagine them that way." He said to me, his white teeth showing as he grinned at me.

"And I couldn't ever leave Sadie alone for too long!" I said again, an image of Sadie barking coming up in my mind as I said her name.

"The golden thing?" asked Faro. I felt affronted.

"She's not a thing! She's my dog and she's beautiful!" I snapped at him, "Imagine me saying that dolphins were things!" I shuddered.

Faro looked confused. "But dolphins are beautiful." I shook my head as we reached Saldowr's cave.

"Saldowr?" Faro asked hesitantly.

"Come in, Faro," came his deep, confident voice, "Bring Sapphire with you too." Despite both Granny Carne and Saldowr having the ability to always tell when people are around, it still shocks me they can sense us. Though perhaps it was easier in Ingo.

I almost gasp as I look at Saldowr. When I had last seen him; he had looked like he was getting well. I had been wrong. The grey in his hair was back with a vengeance and his skin was paler and more drawn against his face than ever. He looked very ill and he looked at me with a wry look. How did Faro not tell me about this?  
>'<em>He refuses to accept that I am dying Sapphire'<em> echoed Saldowr's voice in my head. I looked him at him with a sense of shock and hurt but I understood too. How do you tell someone you love and who isn't willing to see it that you're dying?

"Saldowr, may I—" Faro was cut off by Saldowr who smiled.  
>"Yes my son, you are free to go. Take some time off. You have been working hard for so long. And remember—when you put your heart to it, you can do anything." Saldowr said with a smile. I didn't understand what he meant but obviously Faro did as he looked at me with a curious expression on his face before he embraced Saldowr and grabbed me by wrist and swam us away.<p>

"That was awkward," I murmured to myself and Faro looked uncomfortable. I was about to send him the equivalent of an instant message in Ingo when I noticed he was effectively invisible.  
>"Faro, why are you blocking me from your mind?" I asked, with some considerable confusion.<br>"Were you not the one who said privacy is good?" he asked, with a single eyebrow raised, which I had yet to ask him to teach me how to achieve such a magnificent feat.  
>"Yes I was and you were the one to tell me that there is '<em>no yours and mine between us<em>'." I said, feeling very confused. Faro almost never closed his mind. It had only ever happened once and that was when others were trying to read his mind too.  
>"Faro, are there others trying to read our thoughts here?" I asked, "Are we still surrounded by spies?"<br>"No," he said, sounding horrified, "I would have told you from the beginning if there were."  
>"Then what's wrong Faro?" I asked him, knowing I was now echoing Conor from this morning. Hopefully, Faro wouldn't act the same way I did.<br>"Nothing," he said, biting his lip. Now I knew there was something wrong.  
>"You can tell me Faro. I won't ever doubt you." I said, meaning every word. After all we'd done together, how could I?<br>"That's the problem. You will. Remember a long time back I told you I had a bit of human blood in me. More than Elvira. More than a lot of Mer. Saldowr says I have more human blood than ever known to be had by a Mer born. This means..." His voice failed him and he looked very pale for his complexion. I placed a hand on his arm, to try and reassure him to continue. I was curious as to what Faro seemed to be hiding.

"Sapphire, have you ever wondered how you managed to survive here?" he asked. I shrugged. I hadn't really found the time to stop and wonder why Ingo was in my life, just grateful it was.  
>"Well, just like you can survive here...I can survive in the air. Not just on a rock. I could blend in. If I wanted to. I was always too scared to try. Then you came along and you showed me just how brave you were in an unknown world and—I can't talk to you."<br>I felt hurt. "Faro..." I said. He shook his head.  
>"No, not that way. I'd trust with my life. I have done in the past. It's just; this kind of thing can't be talked about. I have to show you." He said and he took my hand and I looked at him, just for one moment.<br>His face had a range of emotions from excited to apprehensive. He was really scared by whatever he was about to do and I couldn't leave him to do it alone. I squeezed his hand and his perfect teeth formed a nervous grin.

"Come on!" he said and pulled me into a very fast-moving current. I should have been feeling the adrenaline that usually occupied my body when I pushed myself through one of these, but all I could feel was worried about why Faro was so freaked out.  
>We soon ended up back in our cove again. I didn't know why, but I supposed it would be a good thing because I would be able to tear myself away from Ingo easier when it was lunchtime. He gently swam up towards the sunwater and I followed him, slightly annoyed and confused at what was happening.<br>"Sapphire," Faro said and he gripped my wrists and looked me in the eye. I kept silent, a feeling inside told me to.

In full Mer, Faro started murmuring words under his breath. I caught only snatches such as, 'Of free will and spirit; I accept' and 'Human I'll be, yet only temporarily'. It seemed rather like—  
>BANG! A flash of blinding light shone and I covered my eyes. I looked down and I felt astonished. Faro...had legs. And was turning blue. I then realize something. If he's human...he can't breathe underwater. No wonder we were in the sunwater. I pulled him to the surface and harshly dragged him out of the cold water. He started panting and breathing shallowly. I knew I couldn't dip back into Ingo to get us to the cove. Painstakingly, I made myself pull Faro across the surface of the water. I felt more protective of him than ever. He had looked after me so much inside Ingo, I would do the same for him on Earth. Luckily there was no one at the cove when I dragged him across the sand and dumped him down upon the ground.<p>

I then realized three things. One, Faro's legs were bleeding and looked like they'd gone through a shredder. Two, according to the sunlight, it was close to lunchtime. Three...Faro had no clothes on.

I eeped and covered my eyes quickly.

"Sapphire?" he wheezed and I peeked slightly through, focusing on his face. He looked paler than usual and very tired. "Why are you covering your face?" he asked, looking confused.  
>"Ummm..." I had no words and I could feel my cheeks turning a furious red. How could I explain human culture to Faro? I had no idea what to do. What to say. I needed help. Faro was losing blood too fast. I then remembered the phone. Conor! Good old Conor! OF course the phone would come in handy.<br>"Stay here!" I told him and ran up the rocks to where I'd hid the phone.  
>"Does it look like I'm going anywhere?" he yelled after me. I winced, I felt so guilty for leaving him there but I had no idea what to do. I grabbed the phone and pressed 1. Conor was on speed-dial. He picked up on the third ring.<br>"What is it Saph?" he asked lazily.  
>"I'm with Faro." I said, the first thing that popped into my mind.<br>"So?"  
>"We're at the cove." I told him, the second thing that popped into my head<br>"This concerns me how?" he asked, sounding annoyed.  
>"He's hurt." I garbled<br>"So? How is it my problem, get him to a healer." He said. I could almost see him rolling his eyes.  
>"He has legs, he's naked and he's bleeding all over the cove." I said.<br>There was a pause. I could almost hear Conor's head whirring and thinking about the sensible thing to do.  
>"I'll get some bandages and bring them down. I'll bring some clothes too, shall I?"<br>I nodded before realizing he couldn't see me. "Please do." I said breathlessly and snapped the phone shut. All of me ached and I couldn't imagine how much pain Faro was in.  
>"It's okay, Faro, Conor's coming. He'll help fix you up," I called down to him. Conor then bolted down behind me with a bunch of supplies in his hands. He wasn't even holding onto the rocks as he climbed, but Conor had always been good at climbing, so I wasn't too worried.<br>A few moments passed and I could hear the two boys conversing quietly. I breathed and let the panic flow from my mind. How were we going to explain Faro to everybody? It was a small neighbourhood, everyone would know soon. We were lucky the cove area was deserted for now, but later? When Mum and Roger came back? I didn't know the answers and I wasn't sure how we could lie enough to make all of this fit.  
>"He's clothed! Help me carry him to the house, the wound has gotten really bad," called Conor and I hurriedly made my way down the rocks, my phone tucked into my pocket and my shoes on.<br>I winced at all the blood-stained sand that surrounded us but ignored it and quickly looped Faro's arms around my neck.  
>"Hold on, okay?" I told him quietly, "Don't leave me now! Don't you dare, Faro!"<br>How we managed to get him up the rocks to the cottage was a blur but the next thing I knew; we were laying him across the kitchen table and Conor was washing Faro's wounds with saltwater while I searched under the sink for the antiseptic.  
>"Hurry up Saph!" said Conor, with what sounded like gritted teeth. I quickly grabbed the bottle I finally recognized as antiseptic and pulled some cotton from the kitchen drawer. I filled it with antiseptic and perched on a chair near his legs, soaked in what was fast looking like a mixture with more blood than water in it.<br>"Faro, this is going to hurt a lot, okay? Please don't scream." I said and passed the cotton buds to Conor who dabbed to Faro's shredded legs.  
>Faro hissed with pain and screwed up his eyes. I gripped his hand tightly and kissed him gently, hoping that Conor would be quick. I didn't want Faro to feel any more pain than he already had.<p>

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Conor's face brightened.  
>"Get the door Sapphy, I'll keep dabbing." He said.<br>"Please tell me that isn't Rainbow..." I muttered as I hurriedly walked to the door, determined to get rid of whoever it was.  
>I opened the door a little bit to see who was outside before opening it wider at seeing the wrinkled hands and amber eyes. It was Granny Carne. She looked worried along with another unfathomable emotion.<br>"What have you done now, child?" she said, her rich voice, suddenly sharp.

**AN: Thought I'd leave it there. What did you think? Any good? I'm not sure whether I personified everybody correctly, but I sure as heck tried. I always got the impression from Faro in the books that he could go into the Air much more than he actually did. There were always parts where he was going to tell Sapphire something and they get interrupted by another emergency.  
>Next chapter will be shorter, talking about their 'plan' with what to do about Faro. Review if you liked it, review if you didn't. Constructive criticism is always welcome!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 2**

_I opened the door a little bit to see who was outside before opening it wider at seeing the wrinkled hands and amber eyes. It was Granny Carne. She looked worried along with another unfathomable emotion.  
>"What have you done now, child?" she said, her rich voice, suddenly sharp.<em>

I wrung my hands and quickly gabbled, "It wasn't Faro's fault! Please don't hurt him!"

Granny Carne laughed and strode in. "Do not worry child, I am not angry. Take me to him."

I quickly took her to the kitchen where Conor was still dabbing antiseptic in the wound. It was still bleeding rapidly. I had never been much of a healer or anyone good with injuries. I winced as Faro hissed with pain.  
>Granny Carne's face softened when she saw Conor. I'd always known she'd liked Conor better. When Conor noticed she was in the room, he relaxed. I supposed being the adult figure in a situation like this was difficult.<p>

"Granny Carne!" he exclaimed.

"Conor," she said warmly. "Let me take a look at the injury."

He stepped away from Faro's legs. "They won't stop bleeding. If it doesn't clot soon, he'll die from blood loss."

Granny Carne sat down by Faro.

"What is your name?" she asked, her voice low.

"Faro..." he hissed in pain and I suppressed a whimper.

"You are the guardian of Norvys, aren't you? You feel like Earth. It's constricting. It hurts." He moaned.

She laid a hand on his forehead. "Let go of Ingo. You are holding on too tightly. It's the reason you are bleeding like it will never end. You are not in water. Do not try to provide more water." Her voice was stern and as I watched, Faro slowly tensed and relaxed so fast; it was like someone had cut his strings. I couldn't stop myself and ran to his side.

Granny Carne smiled. "Good. Now, let's see what I can do about the nasty wound."

She put her hands above the wound and as I watched, the shredded flesh seemed to be ageing at an accelerated rate until it looked several months older. Unfortunately, so was she. She leant back in her chair, her wrinkles suddenly more prominent, her amber eyes duller.

Conor looked curious. "Elvira healed like that too. How come..." he seemed unwilling to finish his sentence. Granny Carne did it for him.

"How come Earth heals the same way? Healing is all the same. We all are in a way. The wound will not heal unless the subject wants it too. Unfortunately, though Faro has relinquished Ingo, Ingo is less than eager to do the same. This is all I can do. It will have to heal naturally from here. Unfortunately, he will not be able to go back to Ingo for a long time now. Two or three weeks at least, or else he'll kill himself with the strain of the change." Granny Carne calmly explained.

The trapped feeling surged again as she recovered her strength and I winced at the intensity. So did Faro and he seemed to leave us for a moment...before his eyes snapped open, very wide.

I sighed with relief and gripped his hand which he squeezed weakly.

"I'm well, Sapphire..." he breathed lightly, a teasing tone to his voice, even now.

"That's all very well that he's alive; but how do we explain his presence here? In a small town like Senara, a new person is sure to be noticed. By this time in the evening, everyone in Senara will know of the mysterious boy who was with Conor and Sapphire. What do we do then?" said Conor, from the corner, his face darker than usual. I couldn't blame him; we were in a sticky dilemma.

Granny Carne merely smiled though. "No one will suspect a thing if I tell them he's with me."

Suddenly my head whirred with the perfect way to spin this twist in my life.

"Say that Faro's your grandson...from..."

"Plymouth, we claimed to go there when on the Crossing of Ingo." said Conor. I shot him a look. "What? Someone is going to notice how well we know him. That's our best excuse."

I smiled. "Faro will be Granny Carne's grandson from Plymouth and his mother's in hospital because of a car accident, and he hasn't anywhere to go to apart from here. He could stay until his 'mother' is released out of hospital. That'll explain the cuts on his legs too."

Faro looked confused. "What's a car?" he asked, his brows furrowed. I faintly giggled and replied, 'I'll tell you later."

"And what about school, Sapphire?" said Conor. I looked at him, puzzled. Conor had never called me Sapphire. Only ever Saph or Sapphy. He was angry with me, angrier than he had ever been before.

"Well, there are only two more days of school left. The Christmas Holiday starts on Tuesday. Faro can stay with Granny for those days and then we can show Faro around until he's well enough to go back into Ingo." I said. I was still confused as to why Conor was acting like I was an amoeba but it would have to wait. I then turned to Granny Carne.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked her.

She nodded, 'Though I suggest great-grandson might be more appropriate, There are some like Alice Trewhidden who remember that I did not leave Cornwall or have any familial relationships." I glanced at Faro and Granny Carne. Surprisingly, they looked very alike. Both of their skins were dark and their eyes were usually sharp and determined, with suppressed amusement. Just like Conor looked like Granny Carne and Faro too. I was the only one who looked different. I took after Mum, not Dad.

"Now this is over, I'm going to find Rainbow. We'll be picnicking in St. Pirans. I think if she saw the state of the house, she'd more than likely panic. See you in the evening Sapphire." said Conor, his voice colder than ice and much louder than usual. I winced slightly; it really felt odd to have Conor raising his voice. Usually, we worked out our problems, face to face, not arguing. Never arguing. Not like today.  
>Conor grabbed the basket full of food on the counter and walked out the room. I heard the front door slam and he was gone.<p>

Granny Carne looked at me with her eagle eyes. "Something's got your Conor agitated, Sapphire. Cornered in."

"He doesn't want to lie, Granny Carne. He hates lying and anything about Ingo makes him lie. He's been feeling resentful about it...and I suppose this isn't helping, is it?" I said, letting what I knew out. Granny Carne merely gave me another look.

"You'll work it out Sapphire. Now, I suggest you clean up this mess quickly. Jennie will be back soon, I suppose?" she asked, but I shook my head.

"No, Mum said that they wanted her on a longer shift and Roger said he'd wait with her. Even so, I think I will clean up," I said. There was blood on the wooden table and that would take some explaining if it seeped in too deep.

Granny Carne smiled. "I will leave you to it Sapphire. I will leave some crutches outside your house for Faro, to help him get back to my home. You will show him the way, won't you Sapphire?' she asked and I nodded in affirmative. Granny Carne smiled and walked out of the door, her long trench coat flapping behind her.

"Good day, Sapphire." She said and left.

I breathed out, cleaning all that blood would take a long time, time I didn't really have. My first impossible task was to move Faro to the living room without injuring him further. That at least would take an hour...

(X)

It was nearly five when I finished making everything look normal and eating when I rejoined Faro in the living room. He seemed to recover his strength and was currently playing with the television remote.

He looked up when I came back in without an apron. "This is fascinating!" he exclaimed as I flopped into the sofa.

"All these buttons and all these people inside the box...it's strange but it's novel! I wonder what Saldowr would say about this!" he said and his excitement was infectious. I laughed as he flicked through to channels, his bright eyes curiously soaking in as much about it as possible. It was strange being the more knowledgeable one for a change. I kept expecting Faro to start explaining things, but he looked to me now. And I felt strangely protective due to this.

I laughed and leant my head on his shoulder. "I won't be there tomorrow. It's Friday and I have school."

Faro looked at me with a look of confusion. "A school?" he asked.

"A school. We go there to learn as much as we can about our world and how it works. We attend from when we are 5 to the age of 18 and longer if you wish to get qualifications to do jobs." I explained, watching the Prime Minister being interviewed on the TV.

Faro scoffed and leant backwards. "We Mer learn everything we need to immediately and when we want to. How would you learn anything when you do not want to?" asked Faro and I shook my head.

"I think you forget Faro, that most humans cannot share memories as you do. We need to learn everything and it takes a long time. And it's the law that we must learn." I said, entwining my hand in his.

"The law?" he asked, "What defines a law?" he asked.

I pointed at the Prime Minister. "Him. He and a team of people whom the public vote for lead our country and make laws that everyone must follow or pay the consequences. Surely you know this much from eavesdropping on people?" I asked him. I remembered when Faro frequently surprised with random words and concepts he had heard from boaters.

He laughed. 'I suppose you already know all of this. Why would they explain it to the other person if they already know it? All humans talk about I credit cards, driving licenses and gardeners. What are gardeners, per say?" he asked and I couldn't stop the laughter. He looked at me with annoyance. "Just explain it to me. I didn't laugh when you were clueless about Ingo." He said and I flushed.

"Sorry Faro." I said, my laughter stopping immediately. Our front garden was gravel so I couldn't use that as an example. Luckily the living room window provided a nice view of the garden round the back of the house. I pointed towards it, smiling at the bushes that were once full with ripe blackberries and gooseberries, just how Dad liked them. "That's a garden," I said quietly, "And a gardener is a person who tends to it. My dad was a gardener as well as a fisherman..." I murmured and Faro threw me a look which I knew meant he thought my tears were incomprehensible. It was times like this I wished Conor wasn't so angry with me, he was great with emotional situations. I had almost forgotten that Faro's parents had died so young that he would not know their love.

I wiped my tears away and Faro looked apologetic. He hesitated and kissed me. "I'm sorry." He said, looking away, avoiding my eyes, "I shouldn't have even left Ingo. I should have asked you first and what we'd do, rather than just surprise you. You and Conor..." he said, looking hesitant.

I suppose it must have been a shock to him, seeing the two of us so hostile to each other, when we were usually a united front in Ingo. I also remembered that I had never seen Elvira and he, argue. They had disagreed and debated, but never outright argued. Like Conor and I; face to face, not arguing. It wasn't the first time I had seen so many parallels between Ingo and Earth, but perhaps it was the most shocking one.

I pushed the hair away from his face. 'It was no trouble. It'll be okay, you'll see." I said. The statement wasn't really for Faro's benefit, I realised later, but for mine.

I then leant forward to kiss him once more, to drown away my sorrows. Perhaps I drowned myself too deep, because not once did I hear the gravel crunching under a heavy car, the front door open or my Mum and Roger's voices until it was too late.

"Sapphy, you would not believe what happened at—Sapphy!"

I stared at my mum and Roger, my brain unable to process what had just happened. Why were they home? And what were the consequences going to be?

**AN: Yes, I know I'm evil and that this is a really short chapter but I was stunned by the response this is getting. I don't really think this story will be very long (in answer to a review I got) and it will only be another 5-6 chapters? I don't think i could handle another huge long-term story when I have three in waiting. Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be up by March (this is me being optimistic...)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Reaching Norvys**

**AN: AAAAHHHH! Did I say March? I meant April! I didn't expect for the onslaught of homework I received in February. 11 projects! Which means that this is phenomenally late! Sorry again! It was all on paper and everything! By the way, thank you for all of the reviews and kind comments. I would also appreciate some constructive criticism if anyone had any! **

"_Sapphy, you would not believe what happened at—Sapphy!"_

_I stared at my mum and Roger, my brain unable to process what had just happened. Why were they home? And what were the consequences going to be?_

I broke away from Faro's embrace and merely looked at my mother. I waited for her to explode at me, which looked ever more likely, because her mouth was moving in odd shapes, and I could imagine just what she would shout at me. Just as it looked like she had gained the confidence to speak, Roger placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and led her away from the room. He came back a moment later.

"I can't say I blame you for growing up, but I wish you and Conor would stop giving your mother heart attacks." He said, looking tired. I can't say it was a good look on him. But one thing that puzzled me was the mention of Conor. When did Conor do something worthy of a heart attack? Goody-two shoes, A* Conor? This was news to me.

But then Roger broke into a smile. "But I know, young love is bright and beautiful, always has been. Just don't let me or Jennie catch you next time, okay?" he said, giving me a co-conspiratorial wink.

I grinned back at him; I had warmed to Roger a lot since Dad's actual death. Logic said I shouldn't like him, and I hadn't for a year or two. But he was a likeable man and more than willing to put up with the family's quirks. And, if anything, I knew he loved Mum and Mum loved him back. He also seemed to understand about Dad and he always seemed to be insisting he wasn't going to take Dad's place. And strangely enough, I could honestly say I believed him. It wasn't like he could ever _actually_ fill that hole.

Faro looked confused and I merely nudged him to get up. When he seemed reluctant, I swung his arm around my shoulders and heaved him up, with a surprised feeling as I almost toppled over. I had forgotten he was a heavy bloke.

Now it was Roger's turn to look confused. "What happened?" he asked.

I was about to fluently spin a backstory for Faro, when to my never-ending surprise, Faro answered in English instead of Common Mer, "A Car accident. My mum's in hospital. They say I was lucky to survive."

Roger looked sorry for Faro and I could almost feel him stiffen. Faro hated pity. "See that you get your boyfriend home Sapphy. And," he said, lowering his voice and drawing closer to us, "Take your time about it; I have a feeling that when you return, Jennie will chew you out. I can only keep her restrained for so long."

I winced, that wasn't something I was looking forward to. Faro and I somehow managed to get to the front door and, lo and behold, there lay a new set of crutches on the gravel in front of the door. I bent down to get them, perilously balancing Faro whilst doing so. After teaching him how to use it, started to make our journey to the depths of the Downs, where Granny Carne's cottage was nestled.

"Faro?" I asked him as we passed a bus stand where Mary Thomas was staring interestedly at the two of us. "How can you speak English?" I said, lowering my voice.

He smiled mysteriously at me and I felt like my Faro from Ingo had returned. "The same way you could speak half-mer when we first met."

I looked at him incredulously. "Magic? Really?"

He shrugged as best as he could with crutches and we continued walking. 

As we drew nearer to Granny Carne's cottage, Faro seemed to have trouble breathing and was hyperventilating, like he had asthma. I placed my hard over his in the crutches and whispered,

"Let go of Ingo, Faro. You can't be Faro of Ingo, Saldowr's hweolk and heir here. Here you have to be Faro Carne whose mother was in a car accident at Plymouth. Here you have to be a human boy who goes to school and enjoys sport. A Faro Carne who is best friends with Conor and in love with Sapphy Trewhella. Please, be him."

He stopped hyperventilating and with some difficulty, we resumed our journey up the gravel path. He looked normal enough, though his breaths were still a little heavy for a completely calm person. As we drew closer to the house I could smell a waft of scent that to me, reminded me of hot summer's days and wild bonfire nights by the beach with family and friends. It was an intoxicating scent, and one so woodsy and homely, there was no way Faro would ever be able to smell it or endure it. I wondered what Granny Carne was playing at.

There was a little note pasted on the door with some tape inviting us in, so I gently pushed open the door and helped Faro inside the wide open room. The first thing I noticed as we entered was how warm and inviting the house was.

I knew any house could achieve this with some central heating, but I also knew that Granny Carne would never own or install any form of central heating or technology in the heart of her land.

I sat Faro down at the table and looked around. On the counter top, lay a large honey cake, the same type as the one she had served Conor and I went we had first been to see her about my obsession with salt. In the oven there seemed to be a type of pasta and cheese cooking and lots of salad on the side-table, with dressings and spices galore. All of it was meat-free and I was reminded that the Mer never ate meat. I wondered whether Granny Carne was the same. I knew that she could talk to bees, but would that mean she could talk to all of the animals on the Earth? No wonder she was vegetarian.

Granny Carne herself walked in a moment later, carrying some glasses and a bottle of what looked like elderberry cordial and some water. Everything she was making for Faro was earthy, spicy, woodsy. What was she trying to do? Convert him to love Earth? I thought not. Granny Carne was wise enough to know that it wouldn't happen. Faro was Saldowr's heir. How could he ever abandon Ingo?

A voice in my head seemed to disagree however. _He left Ingo for you Sapphire. And he doesn't suffer too adversely. He is exactly half and half like you. He could choose to stay here with you. You wouldn't have to choose. You could stay here with Mum and Conor and visit Ingo ever now and then. You'd never have to decide if he did._

But I knew it was a selfish thought and it was Faro's destiny to be Guardian of the Tide Knot. How could I take that away from him? I had no proper future here. I could be an marine biologist or an eco-scientist. Or anything. His destiny was certain.

"Sapphire," said Granny Carne, warmly, breaking me out of my morbid thoughts, "You are early." She said, as she sat down.

I'd never get over that clarity of sight that she possessed.

"Are you sure you'll be okay Faro?" I asked him, "You don't need me, do you?"

He smiled. "I'll be fine Sapphire. Go home. I think your mother would be more worried for you than I am for myself."

I smiled back at him and was about to leave when Granny Carne's voice floated out of the kitchen. "So you will face your mother's wrath alone and twice once more when your brother comes home afterwards?"

I turned back to look at Granny Carne. "If you stay and have some tea," she said, "You will arrive home at the same time as your brother."

And it was tempting. Very tempting. "I will face it twice. My mother has been worried enough." I said and Granny Carne smiled.

"You are a good child. But I beseech you. We have much to discuss and it is best that we all retell the accounts of what you have done in Ingo that has caused this instability. The diver, Roger, will keep your mother company." She said, and there was a firmer tone to her voice than I had seen before.

How could I refuse? I took a seat at the table and cut a slice of the honey-cake.

(X)

I left Granny Carne's house as the sun's rays turned a welcoming shade of red and the many streaky clouds were illuminated with its dying rays. The cold sea breeze caressed my face and as I breathed outwards, a bit of steam appeared in front of my face. It truly felt like December and the sea was certainly reacting as such, tossing and turning speedily. I knew that if I went down to the sea now, I would drown, Ingo or not. I wondered for the reason for its anger and realised it was mourning Faro. He truly was Saldowr's heir. There was no other reason for this squall.

I shook my head and continued walking. I noticed tough green weeds pushing out from underneath the cracked pavement, as I made my way down the empty country road. I hadn't realised just how much greenery remained around Cornwall, even in winter. Surely this should have been withered and old like the trees?

I was drawn from my musings as I saw Conor approaching from the other direction. He paused outside the driveway and waited for me and I ran towards him. He lazily met my gaze, a goofy smile on his face. "Hey Saph," he said, a warmth to his voice I hadn't felt since this morning. I smiled. This morning seemed a long time away, from the events of today.

"Hey Conor," I said, conversationally, "Just to warn you, Mum's going to lecture us till John O'Groats the moment we remove our shoes"

Cono blushed and I knew that Mum must have seen him do something incriminating, because he wasn't immediately blaming me. Then he fixed his sharp gaze onto my smirk.

"What did you do, Sapphy?" he asked.

I grinned mischievously and darted through the door. He looked annoyed as I left him standing on the edge of the gravel driveway.

'WHAT DID YOU DO!" He yelled after me.

(X)

After Mum sent us to our rooms, we trooped upstairs and walked into my room. Surprisingly, Conor didn't follow orders and perched on my desk.

"What did you do Sapphy? I've never seen Mum that mad!" I grinned at him and he looked exasperated. "Don't go all mysterious on me, Saph! Just tell me!"

I stayed quiet and he growled angrily. I yawned and sat myself down on my bed, when to my surprise; Conor lunged and tackled onto the floor. He quickly got me into a headlock, twisting my arm behind me, painfully.

"Let go, Conor!' I shouted, struggling under his grasp.

"Just tell me what you did, and the pain goes away!" I wasn't prepared to give up that information so I shot my knees backwards and impacted him in the stomach. He loosened his grasp and I turned him in a waist hold. "You first. You're just as guilty as I am."

He growled and tried to struggle free, but Conor didn't want to actually hurt me.

"Fine," he spat. "Mum was driving back and she spotted me and Rainbow holding hand and Rainbow's head on my shoulder."

I gave him a look and my arms dropped to my sides, slack with shock. "Seriously? That's it?" I laughed and Conor looked affronted. "Mum caught me and Faro snogging on the sofa and you think that you and Rainbow holding hands was the main factor?" I couldn't stop laughing as Conor shook his head at my immaturity.

"Whatever," he said after a moment. "I'm not dealing with this anymore. Today has been too surreal. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll wake up and it'll never have happened."

The moment he disappeared up the stairs to his attic room, I stopped laughing and grabbed a notebook. I'd always liked making lists.

_Things that are odd about our situation:_

_Faro has legs. _

_Conor is angry at me. Constantly._

_Granny Carne is trying to persuade Faro to be earthy._

_The sea is angry_

_The plants are still green in December. Only the trees have been affected by winter._

I sighed at the list. I still had school on Monday and the party afterwards. Not to mention I ahd to meet Rainbow tomorrow and interrogate her. Then accumulate Faro to England and not make him look like a weirdo. I groaned and buried my head in a pillow. This was too much to deal with. Maybe a good night's sleep would remedy my ailments.

**AN: So, not as late as I thought it would be. I may get another chapter up this Easter holidays, I don't know. I'm not giving myself a deadline gain, because I know I won't keep to it. I would have carried on and left it on a cliff-hanger, but I thought you guys had suffered enough. By the way, I'm looking for a beta to look over it for me to correct any grammar issues. I'm a beta myself, but I can't notice my own errors until much later when I've already updated it, so if anyone could help me, that'd be great! Au Revoir!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 4**

**AN: Great feedback guys! Anything you hate? Anything you dislike? Anything I could improve? Do tell me. As it is, I'm going to hand over to Sapphy for story time!**

I kicked a stone as I jumped off the bus, waving goodbye to Mary as I walked into St Pirans. Rainbow said that she would meet me by the beach, where we first met but that was about a 15 minute walk from here so I had some time to think. The town was quiet, what with it being a Sunday. Mum and Conor were at church but Roger didn't really believe in God, so he was kicking around the water in his boat. He'd offered me a turn on the boat with him, but I'd declined.

The sun was shining despite it all and it warmed my skin. It was still surprisingly warm for December; usually by now, it would hit minus figures, especially since we were so close to the sea.

I breathed into the air and was once more surprised by another bright green plant, that didn't look in the slightest like an evergreen. It even had fruit on it! Something was seriously strange, even here in St Pirans. I did however know that it wasn't nationwide. Carol, the weather-lady on the BBC News had been out on the country in Devon and there, not a single plant was nearly as green as they were here in Senara.

I would have usually blamed Granny Carne for this phenomenon, but it didn't happen every year. Dad's garden always died in the winter and he had to replant in the spring, but this year, the elderberries were still growing and the gooseberry bush was bright green and exploding with leaves, to Conor's consternation (part of his chores were weeding and leaf clearing of the garden).

I couldn't see any factor that had changed this year...apart from Faro. He had said he'd been planning coming to the surface for two months. It had been 2 months ago that the leaves usually fell and hadn't.

But surely, Faro couldn't be causing the seasons changing to halt?

I shook the thought from my mind as I saw a shock of blonde hair that had to be Rainbow.

"Rainbow!" I shouted and she turned around and ran towards me, throwing her arms around me in a giant hug.

"Hello, Sapphire. I like your shorts. Very snazzy, especially in this weather!" she said, gesturing to my denim knee length shorts.

I laughed. "I'm glad you like them. I like them. "

She laughed and pulled me along to the town.

"How're Patrick and River?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Pat's as quiet as ever. He's got extra hours at the Green Room, so I barely see him apart from at school time. River's okay though. Mum and Dad thought that he might enjoy nursery, he's a bit more outgoing than Pat and I ever were. He's going to the St. Pirans one. Loves it there, can't blame him. Playing all day, sounds fun, more fun than studying at home. Mum's so strict about getting work done."

I shrugged my hands over her shoulders. "Well then, thank God for weekends!"

She chuckled and nodded. "What about you Sapphire? How was your week?"

"Interesting enough," I said. "You might be interested in knowing that Granny Carne's looking after her great-grandson at the moment. Faro. He's quite nice." I said. I knew that Conor couldn't lie to Rainbow, so it was best that I did it and Conor merely kept up the deception.

She threw me a look. 'Quite nice?" she asked slyly and I sighed.

"Yes Rainbow, that does mean that I fancy him. I met him in...Plymouth."

She suddenly sharpened and looked at me in the eye directly. "He's from the place that was in danger?"

I nodded. "Then the place is safe now? You won't need to return?" she asked again, her brown eyes widening.

"Not for as long, anyway. " She threw me a look, and I knew the issue would weigh on her mind until she figured it out. Rainbow was smart, she knew something was up. I'd leave it to her to come to her own conclusions.

"Onto other news," I said, grinning as we drew close to Costa Coffee shop. "Iced tea?" I asked her.

Rainbow grinned, her tanned face lighting up. "You just have to be contradictory, don't you Sapphire? That's a coffee shop, I'll have a mocha. You can be strange and have Iced Tea."

I faked indignation. "Who are you calling strange, horse-rider?"

She cackled and pushed me into the store.

As soon as we had purchased our drinks, we occupied a table outside. "You wanted to talk about other news," said Rainbow, as she placed her satchel on the floor.

"Yes," I said, "My friend Katie wants to hold a party on the beach but she's lacking on people. She wanted me to bring friends, so I'll bring Faro if his leg is good enough to walk properly by then but I think Conor would like you to be there. I know I do; who else could I have a proper laugh with?"

She threw a look at me. "Why are Faro's legs not working?"

"Car accident," I replied blithely, "And you're avoiding the question. Can you or can't you go to this party on Monday?"

She looked away, sipping at her mocha. "I don't know. Why didn't Conor ask me himself?"

I shrugged. "I don't pretend to know how Conor's mind works. All I can tell you is that my brother is pre-occupied, shy and probably insecure about your relationship. Seriously, if he thinks that you two holding hands is worth a freak-out from Mum..."

She giggled for a bit, before looking pensive. "I don't know Sapphire. Whenever I go into town alone, I'm usually made fun of for not going to proper school. They think I'm strange. They laugh and point, and I know its shouldn't bother me, but it does. I don't want to be the excluded girl at this party. I don't want to be the butt of the joke."

"You won't be!" I exclaimed. I had never known that Rainbow was bullied for being smarter than us. "I'll be there and so will Conor. If anyone so much as looks at you funny, I'll hit them like I hit Josie in Year 5. You are my friend and Conor's girlfriend and you deserve respect, and I promise you that you will get it."

She smiled at me, nursed her disgusting mocha and smiled a rare, shy smile at me. "Well then, I think we need to go dress shopping."

(X)

I lay my head in the grass and listened to Faro rant about how strange aeroplanes were and how only humans with their strange need to be like birds would want to fly. He also ranted about credit cards and how useless they were, money and how obsessed humans were with it and the pointlessness of government.

While I loved Faro with all of my heart, I couldn't agree with him about half of the things that he said about the world of the air. As he launched into a rant about how silly hair-dryers were, I silenced him with a kiss and pulled him back down into the green grass around me.

"Just look up," I whispered, as he settled onto his back and we stared at the clouds, our hand entwined. The sun was setting and the trail of a jet faded across the sky. Tendrils or red and pink snuck across the sky, meeting the barrier of darkening blue.

"This is air. This is summer. This is the life." I said to him. "Forget your impressions about how useless we humans are and wonder at the marvels of the air. The open sky with the soaring red kites. The bluebirds that nestle in the trees. The squirrels turning in for winter hibernation. The lazy cats sleeping by an open hearth. A dog flopping itself down at the foot of your bed at the end of a long, hard day at work." As I told him this, I spun an image in my head of each and showed him via our thoughts.

I hadn't been surprised when his access of my thoughts was just as easy in the Air as it was in the water. We were in sync and I knew the tone of his mind and he knew the tone of mine.

He smirked. "But you humans didn't make all of this. This was Nature's doing."

I sighed. 'Fine. Let me show you the good that humans have done, be it for themselves."

I showed him the vague memory of the vaccinations that I had had as a child and the clip of how they worked that we had been shown in Year 8. I showed him the treatments for cancer and the stopping of the volcanoes that thundered in their might. I showed him the carving of beautiful buildings like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Red Fort, the Taj Mahal and other such pictures and movies I had seen. I showed him the music we created, the earthy, folky music along with the rock and techno at which Faro physically winced.

I showed him the lights of the world as shown from space and close up pictures of the stars and planets I had seen in a Year 13's Physics project. And Faro looked at me, with a wry look. "So maybe you humans have done something of worth. But was it worth the consequences?"

And I knew the images of the sea burning, the animals covered in oil, the machine refinery pumping sewage into the sea. A dolphin caught in a fishing net, a fish trapped in plastics bags, sharks without fins. I knew that e would show me these images and I was ready with the clips of the WWF, the Greenpeace organization, the daily things we did to help our environment, the people resolutely wading through mud and sand to clean some filthy seagulls from the oil.

"The human race is trying to stop what we did. The younger generations are hoping to make things better, Faro. _I'm_ trying to make things better. Or did you forget that I was human?" I knew what I was asking was cruel. I knew he hadn't forgotten, but he definitely had acted like her had forgotten.

He scowled before kissing me hair then my cheeks then my lips.

I leant on his shoulder until the sky went black and white. Then I lifted him up and got ready to escort him back to his home. But the question I still hadn't answered was whether or not Faro was causing the temporary weather pause.

"Faro?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he murmured as he hopped along resolutely, without my help.

"What do you think about attending a party tomorrow?" I asked him, my mouth not being able to ask him about our weather.

He looked startled. "What if they ask me questions I don't know?" he said, his face looking like a deer in the headlights.

I shrugged off his fear of socializing with normal people. "Borrow the answer from my mind or make it up. I'd suggest the first over the second."

He smiled, and sighed. "Okay then, Sapphire. If you insist. But I insist that you accompany me there. I will not know anyone, and to be perfectly frank, I don't think your brother is appreciative of my presence here in his world. He would happily see me fail, for I have not truly failed in Ingo. I don't understand his animosity, but, I am not human."

I kissed his cheek gently, before tucking my hands into the pockets of my denim shorts and started the walk back home.

(X)

I ate my cereal ravenously and across from me, Conor pulled a face.

"It's only school, Sapphy. No need to rush."

I pulled a face back at him. "I want to catch a ride from Mum. I haven't apologized to her properly. I'm sure you had the time, but yesterday I was whizzing around with Rainbow shopping and teaching Faro human things, using the telly as a guide."

He shrugged. "Your call. I'll see you at break time, its photos today. Don't forget to do your tie properly, I think Mum wants to buy this one because it's my last year. I don't want my scraggly sister making my look bad!" he said and I shoved him friendlily, as I dumped my bowl in the sink and rinsed it quickly.

He quickly caught my hand and sat me down on the chair in front of him. "Your hair is a mess. Mum will take her own time today, because she needs her appearance done right. She's at a job interview today, a job out in St Pirans in marketing. More money."

I sighed. "For your university fund?"

He nodded grimly. "I can't believe Uni fees rose again. It's only been a year since the last rise. Mum's working so hard for this, and I can't get a job to help."

I tuned to hug him but he pushed me back down into the chair and started braiding my waist-length hair.

He had learnt how to do this because Mum never had the time when I was little either and Dad used to try and braid daisies in my hair, to frustrate Mum into combing my hair. Conor learnt to do it as well, and she had looked at him in disappointment, saying that he was supposed to be the mature one because Dad could never be mature. Those were the good times.

As he finished my hair, I smiled. "Conor, I know that you're angry at me. Just... don't take it out on Faro. He didn't mean anything by coming up here. He was curious and he doesn't understand our world, just like we don't quite understand his. He doesn't understand the fuss and the paperwork and the trouble he creates by being here, because in Ingo, they don't leave a paper trail. You know that Con."

Conor scowled in frustration, but not anger, to my surprise. "I'm not angry with you Saph. I don't even think I'm angry at Faro. I'm just...angry that it happened. Faro was ignorant and we can't do anything apart from wait, but..."  
>"But it ruins your idea of separation, doesn't it?" I asked and he nodded, looking glum. "Conor, I'm going to use something that's probably Chinese; everything is interconnected. We're all linked in some way, sort or form, and that includes the Mer. You can't expect things to separate just for you. It's like what happened when the Tide Knot broke; the sea flooded the land and they were connected for that moment. Everyone in Senara and St. Pirans are now connected with the sea in some way. Conor, whatever has happened, has happened. Just flow like the sea. Don't stand still now. You need to know when to flow and when to stand your ground. I know that you don't like having blood of Ingo, but you do, so you need to learn when to bend and when to stand your ground."<p>

Conor looked surprised at my speech and I crossed my arms, certain that my face was a bright red. "I can give out gems of wisdom sometimes!"

He smirked. "Yes, I just wasn't expecting it. You're usually so... slow."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "All I'm saying is, give Faro the chance that he gave you and I when we were in Ingo. Give him the chance to grow into this place. Give him a chance to be less prejudiced."

He sighed. 'Yes mother." He said sarcastically, as he finished his cereal.

I flipped him the bird and grabbed my rucksack form the front of the staircase as Mum thundered down with an extra layer of make-up on and a raincoat in a classy style. I groaned as I looked outside, after all of the great weather we'd been having, it had to rain on the day of the beach party. It was a wet drizzle, but still rain that would ruin my image for the photos Conor was so worried about. Even with a raincoat, I was doomed if I walked to school like I usually. Best weather ever.

"Mum, I said, as I quickly slipped on my shoes. "Can I grab a lift in your car?"

Mum nodded absently and grabbed her keys. I put on my raincoat, tucked my plait inside the coat and flipped the hood up. I darted across the gravel, slamming the door behind me, dived for the car door and swung myself inside.

Mum looked at me. "Oh Sapphy, don't look so moody."

I rolled my eyes. "Mum, it's pouring it down with rain on Photo day! Why would I be happy?"

Mum threw a look at me. "Because I'm giving you a lift?"

I decided to go over the top. "Oh, kind and gracious nurturer, I beseech thee to let mine body stay inside the warm dry car so that my lustrous hair will not look like a wet rat when I approach the highest institute of learning!"

She laughed. "I think you've been reading too much Shakespeare, Sapphy!"

I laughed and relaxed back into the car seat.

"Sapphy," Mum started and by the tone of her voice I knew that something was troubling her. "You never tell me anything about your life anymore. What are you doing today?"

I smiled, that I was happy enough to answer. "Today, Leah and I are doing our Drama piece on World War 2. In Geography, we're doing the last bits of research for our Marine Ecology project. And then, afterschool, Katie's holding a beach party down at Senara Beach to celebrate the last day of school. That is, if it ever stops raining!"

Mum looked unhappy at this. "A beach party Sapphy?"

"It's not that bad, Mum! Conor and his mates are going too. So's Rainbow, Patrick and Faro." I knew my Mum liked Rainbow and Patrick, they were very reliable and very polite. Of course, Mum had never really forgotten what Rainbow had done for her when the Tide Knot broke and how the four of us were close when she and Roger were in Australia.

But for some reason, she looked even more worried. Then I realized that I'd mentioned Faro. That wasn't going to sit well with her. "Sapphy..." she said, her tone disapproving.

"Mum, I really like him. He's funny, smart and so charming. And he loves the sea just as much as I do." I said, as I admitted most of the reasons I loved Faro.

Her face crinkled. 'That's what I'm worried about..." she murmured before looking at me directly. "Sapphy. I don't want you to go to this party."

I nearly exploded. After all the dress shopping effort and the coaxing of Rainbow, my mother wasn't going to ban me from this. I didn't fail to notice that she'd left Conor out of that sentence. "So, it's okay for Conor to go have fun on the beach with Rainbow, but it isn't okay for me to have fun with my boyfriend?"

She looked frustrated as, she pulled to a stop as the traffic lights switched to red. "I know Rainbow! I don't know Faro at all, and then I come home to you both kissing each other away! I'm understandably worried, Sapphire!"

I felt angry now. 'That's how you and Dad met! He always said that for both of you, it was love at first sight, despite your parents!"

She looked at me angrily. "LOOK WHERE THAT ENDED UP, SAPPHIRE! HE DIES, LEAVING ME ALONE1 WE WERE ALWAYS ARGUING! IT WASN'T LOVE, IT WAS LUST AND FADED!"

I stared at her. I didn't know she'd felt like that about Dad, our dad. I just gaped at her, because surely...surely, she would have said something. But, I knew it to be true. How else was Dad so easily pulled away by Mellina and Mordowgri? If he'd truly loved Mum with all of his heart, he wouldn't have even been able to think of straying.

She deflated. "Sapphy, I don't want that for you. I want you to be happier than I was. I don't want you rushing into something you'll regret."

I failed to see how the two correlated however. "It's just a party Mum. I'm hardly likely to sign my whole life away to Faro on a whim!"

"I just don't want you going, Sapphy, and that's final!" she snapped.

"Roger would let me go!" I yelled, and I knew this to be true as well. I'd wanted to paint him as a villain when I was younger, but really? He was far better at knowing my feelings and what I needed than Mum was.

Mum threw me a cold look. "Roger is not the father of two children, one of whom is too impulsive for her own good! Roger is inexperienced at handling children. He's being so nice because he wanted your approval, yours and Conor's. He loves me and I took it slow this time."

I felt my anger bubbling and boiling and seething, like Ingo when a storm was raging. "He's a damn sight better parent than you are!" I yelled at her. "It's just a party! It's not like the sea is going to rise up and drown me!"

She clenched her fists around the steering wheel. 'The sea is unpredictable. It can do anything and Senara beach is more unpredictable than St Pirans. You'll go swimming and you'll get caught by a current, because you think you're invincible. The tide will come in unexpectedly and pull you with it. And loving the sea too much can be a curse Sapphy."

I clenched my first around my rucksack. "I'm not you Mum! I'm not going to half-drown in water! I'm not going to feel like its calling me! I'm not going to get a fortuneteller saying that the sea was the worst thing that ever happened to me! The sea is everything! I'M NOT YOU! AND I'M GOING TO THE PARTY WHETEHR YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

With that parting statement, I grabbed my rucksack and slammed the car door as I walked into the school, despite being metres away from it. I let the rain drip off my skin-tight raincoat and I felt my anger cool and dissipate like a summer squall when the clouds pass inland. Then I realized my fatal error. My mother thought our encounter in Australia was just a dream. In foolishly lashing out at her, I'd just revealed that it wasn't.

What would happen now?

**AN: So this is really much shorter than some other chapters but I decided that if I shortened the chapters and extended chapter length, I'd be able to satisfy demand for my stories. Is that okay with you guys? It means that the 'chapter per day of story' structure I was going to introduce goes out the window, but I don't think that works from a storytelling angles. It means I can't get the cool cliff-hangers in the right places! Thanks for all the feedback and please, if you write and read Ingo fanfiction and have an account, check out the forums, we have some cool discussion going on that I'd like some newbies in! **

**Also, if you draw or do any kind of media, please go to #Away-In-Ingo on DeviantArt and submit an entry to the Stormswept challenge! I'm offering prizes, even though that wasn't originally planned by SapphireLovesTheSea. This is because there are only 3 entries so far, one of them, mine. Come on guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 5 **

I sighed as I fussed with my dress. It was a deep blue, the same shade as the sea. I wore it with a grey cardigan; heavens knew I'd need it with the cold. Despite the changes in weather, it was still sodding freezing at night. I pulled out the old sandals that I had pushed under my bed eons ago, when Dad had disappeared to Ingo, and I'd thought he'd died. I couldn't help but wondering if they still fit; after about two years, I had grown, even if it was, just a little.

I slipped them on and tightened the straps. They fit, almost perfectly. I wiggled my toes against the gold rimming and I smiled. I remembered that Dad had brought this for me when it was my 13th birthday. I'd been complaining weeks before about not having proper beachwear, after my pink flip-flops had broken and Conor refused to lend me his spare pair. Dad had presented them to me with great splendour and we'd spent the day with a picnic, down at the cove. Mum had been wary, but even she couldn't begrudge me the sea on my birthday.

I turned to look at my dull silver mirror, primping my hair backwards. It had taken a can of hairspray, but I had put it up in a delicate bun, for the evening. Not too practical for a daily basis, but it was a party. I hadn't put on any makeup, apart from some subtle mascara. That much I refused myself from doing. I adjusted my cardigan and nodded. I was ready. And it had only taken 15 minutes. And if I was ready, Conor most definitely should have been.

"Conor!" I hollered up the ladder to his room. "Hurry up! We still have to pick up Faro and Rainbow!"

"I'm coming!" he yelled back and he sounded near hoarse. I frowned; that wasn't normal. Unless...

He descended the ladder. It was the unless. "Conor!" I said, a tone of exasperation in my voice. He was wearing a green t-shirt and a surfing jacket from the Green Room, accompanied by neat black trousers. His hair was combed back and he had a wooden pendant hanging round his neck with string. But that wasn't the worst part. Oh no. He was also carrying a bunch of wild flowers in his hands, all tied up with a red ribbon. That wasn't too bad, if a bit cheesy. No, it was what was in the bouquet that was the trouble. It consisted of baby blue eyes, dog violets, cornflowers and the dreaded elderflowers, which, while it tasted great as a cordial and looked very beautiful, gave Conor an awful allergic reaction. "It's a beach party, not a romantic date!"

He gave me a distinctly unpleased look. "It may be for you, but I actually want her to know I care."

I had to stifle a smirk, wasn't it usually the older sibling giving the younger love advice? "She already knows you care, Conor. You don't need to prove it by making yourself ill. She likes you already. She might even love you, if you act normal. See, Faro knows I love him! I don't need to bring him allergic-reaction-inducing flowers for him to know that I care. And Rainbow's a lot more intuitive than Faro is, regarding matters of the heart. Look, give me the flowers. I'll get rid of them and you grab your allergy pills. God Conor, don't be pigheaded!"

He scowled but reluctantly handed me the bouquet and climbed back up his ladder, sneezing as he went. I rolled my eyes at him, he was odd. I dumped the flowers in mum's upstairs bin brusquely, but kept the ribbon and washed it quickly. As he met me by the stairs, I handed him the ribbon.

He looked confused. "What happens to I don't need to prove my love to her?"

I smirked. "You don't, dummyhead. That's a little love-token that matches her outfit. It's sweet and understated. Also, has the added bonus of not being something you're allergic to. It's rather hard to be allergic to sateen."

He rolled his eyes and walked down the stairs. I quickly followed. Mum and Roger were watching TV in the living room. We'd avoided each other when she'd come home and hadn't said a word to each other, apart from Mum curtly giving me permission to go to the beach party, as long as we were back before ten. Roger didn't seem to understand the coldness between us and attempted to patch it up with a delicious mug of hot cocoa but we'd ignored the healing gesture. I'd taken the cup not to be rude, but walked out with it up to my room.

Sadie padded up to me and enthusiastically nudged my dress. I laughed. "Good girl Sadie!" I said, bending down to pet her. She liked to be scratched behind the ears so I obliged her while Conor quickly sorted out homecoming times with Roger in the kitchen.

Roger tapped me on the back as I turned to leave. He chucked me my mobile phone. "Don't forget this!" he said with a grin. 'Who knows when you'll need it?" I laughed and tucked it into the cardigan pocket.

"Thanks Roger!" I said. I remembered what had happened last time and I was keeping my phone at hand, in case there was a reprise.

"By the way Sapphy," he said, '"Even if your Mum's on edge, I thought I'd say it. You look stunning. Go knock your boy dead!"

I laughed, there were times when Roger really was endearing. He would never be able to replace Dad, but he sure as hell was a great step-father. "Thank you, Roger," I said, hoping it came across as sincerely as I felt it. He winked at me and I headed out the door.

The sun had long dipped behind the horizon. The season may not have been colder, but it was still keeping in line with the sun setting just after I'd come home from school. I shivered and Conor put his arm around my shoulder. "Conor," I said, as we walked up the road to the Downs, "Have you noticed something strange about the seasons?" I asked. I couldn't bring myself to ask Faro, but Conor could be very pig-headed once he had a theory in his head. Maybe he'd do it for me, which would be nice.

He looked at me oddly. "Now who's being weird Sapphy? Surprisingly, I have better things to worry about than the seasons. You know, like the upcoming A-Levels?"

I rolled my eyes and shoved him, affectionately. "Get off you twat, you're bound to get A*s in all of them, Con! Anyway, if you were so concerned about studying, you wouldn't be here at this party!"

He ruffled my hair for a brief millisecond before I pushed him roughly. "Geroff Saph! I was trying to be affectionate!"

"Not with the can of hairspray hairstyle, you don't!" I retorted, smoothing out what little he had managed to disturb.

"Anyway, as I was going to say, someone has to chaperone you! Gods knows Mum wouldn't have even considered letting you go alone!" he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

There was another silence as we took the small path that took us deeper into the country. "Conor," I asked, looking up the constellation of Orion, "Why doesn't Mum trust me?"

He paused, looked pensive, before shrugging. "You're younger than me, I s'ppose." He said.

I frowned. "But it can't be that, Con! When you were the age I am currently, Mum allowed you the same freedom you have now! It just doesn't make sense!"

He shrugged. "I can't read Mum's mind like you can read Faro's, Saph. Maybe it's because you're too impulsive. Maybe, it's because she thinks you need to be protected because you're the youngest! Maybe she doesn't think you can be trusted because you're a girl! I dunno!"

My mouth dropped in outrage at his last comment. "Excuse me, but what does it change that I'm a girl, Conor!"

He smirked as we reached Granny Carne's path. "Maybe it's because you're more prone to mood swings and are therefore unreliable and unpredictable?"

I smirked, that was far too general. Much too easy to dispute that one. "That's stupid, Conor. I don't know a more reliable person than Granny Carne!"

He laughed. '"I'm pretty sure she had a century on you there, Saph!" we said as we got to her door.

"I'd say it's more like two centuries, Conor." said Granny Carne's amused voice as we reached to knock on the door. We both exchanged looks as she smiled from her vantage point, in the entrance of the door that had just opened. "And you're slightly late."

I shrugged. "Blame this shmuck. If he hadn't tried to ruffle my hair, we'd have been here much quicker." I said, flatly and Conor threw me a look.

Granny Carne looked amused and Faro hobbled to the door. He too looked like a surfer in his clothes; a blue turtleneck shirt, a black hoodie and some dark cargo trousers. I briefly wondered where he'd got them from, but they looked like some of Conor's old clothes, so I didn't pay them too much heed. I helped him forward and squeezed his hand briefly.

"We'll be back around ten, Granny Carne." said Conor, calmly before nudging me.

I started and grinned at her. 'Thanks for looking after Faro, Granny Carne."

She smiled. "It's been a pleasure. And a learning experience."

I was skeptical that Granny Carne had actually learned anything; she seemed to know everything there was to know about everything, but I hid this thought, smiled and waved goodbye. We made slow progress as we headed back to the bus stop that would take us to St. Pirans.

"What are buses like?" asked Faro as he hopped along, using the crutches to support him.

I grinned. "They're like cars but much larger. It's a box like shape. A man drives it and there's a conductor who collects ticket money. You have to pay a small amount to go places. It goes quite far and to some people, it can be slightly nauseating." Conor said before I could launch into my own explanation. He grinned at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.

Not to be outdone, I placed a hand on Faro's briefly, to show him the image of the bus. He frowned. "It looks strange, Sapphire. Not a very aerodynamic shape."

Now Conor looked confused. "Wait, what? It hasn't arrived yet!"

"Thought sharing," I said and he looked satisfied, if a bit annoyed.

Then he rounded on Faro. "And how do you know what aerodynamic means when you don't know what a bus is?"

Faro merely grinned the infuriating grin that he always gave me, which told me he wasn't fazed. "I've said before, I only know what I hear. And people like to boast about how fast their boats can go because of being aerodynamic."

Conor merely blinked before shaking his head. I merely raised my hand to Faro who gave me a high-five with vigour. I could only see the back of Conor's head, but somehow, I knew that he was rolling his eyes.

(X)

It took 20 minutes for the bus to roll into St Pirans, but I received several compliments on my dress on our way there. It seems that the beach party was timed with the weekly games night in St. Pirans. This wasn't sports games, but board games, usually bingo or monopoly. Sometimes even Trivial Pursuit as Mrs Pascoe excitedly informs me. Why Conor and Faro suddenly decided to be best buds now, so I had to sit through the living gossipy torture of old women, I didn't know but I was pretty sure that Fate was laughing at me.

By the time the bus dropped us off in St Pirans, I was sure that the hearing in my left ear had been depleted. I told Conor such and he laughed at me and told me to stop being ridiculous. I sighed and moved on, throwing glares at his retreating back. Faro laughed and looped his arm into mine and my cares were instantly forgotten.

"Come on you lovebirds!" Conor called from ahead of us and I rolled my eyes as we steadily moved along at hopping speed.

"He acts as if he isn't this bad when he's with Rainbow." I muttered and Faro laughed darkly. "Now remember, Faro. You don't know Rainbow. You've never seen her before in your life. Please try and be convincing about that."

He shot me a dirty look. "I can do that much at least." He said, loftily and I leaned my head on his shoulder which slowed him down. "Sapphire!" he hissed, "Conor will—"

I kissed him to shut him up. He kissed back but broke away and started hobbling after Conor's retreating blue surfer jacket. I sighed, duty called. As always.

I scratched at the flowery amalgam of itchy fabrics that resides on the shoulder pad of my dress and scowled. I wished I were away in Ingo right about now. A week of swimming in the calm seas sounded brilliant. And if there was adventure along the way, what would I care? Better than languishing here. A party seemed so trivial now compared to the morning's strong feelings.

I tapped my fingers against my thighs. I supposed that I felt restless. And as we turned unto the curve to the beach, the sea certainly felt that way too. I blinked in surprise. It looked positively restless, with waves darting in and out at low tide so quickly, I could scarcely watch them break before they retreated again. I remembered a year ago, when Roger had been surprised by how in tune with the sea I'd been. I always knew when the tides changed but I'd never expected my mood would now mirror the sea.

I rubbed at my shoulder, before approaching the bonfire blazing away, much closer inland and the faint sound of pop music, blasting away from Mal's stereos.

As I drew closer, I saw Conor greeting all of his friends who were toasting marshmallows on the fire (at least, when they dared to get close to the blistering heat surges) or changing the tracks on Mal's stereo. Faro stood awkwardly at the side, and I finally joined him and squeezed his shoulder.

"You've seen the sea, haven't you Faro?" I asked, in a hushed whisper.

He nodded discreetly and frowned. "It doesn't bode well," he said, "The sea is angry. And I can't fathom why."

I shrugged and plastered a fake smile onto my face as Katie showed up with some kind of beverage in her hand. "Hello Saph!" she greeted cheerfully. "And who's this?" she purred, turning towards Faro and I felt my grip on Faro's shoulder tighten, just a little.

"This is Faro. My boyfriend. He's staying in Senara for a while, because of a car crash in Plymouth. His mum's in hospital." I said, tightly.

Katie looked suitably pitiful. "Dreadful stuff. She okay?"

I squeezed his shoulders and he calmly replied. "Yep. She's recovering. Her leg's fractured though, so it'll be a while before she's able to properly walk again. Shrapnel too."

I knew he was picking all of this stuff from my mind, but I was still impressed at the fluidity of his lying. I wondered whether he lied a lot in Ingo.

_Not really Sapphire. _he said into my mind.

I pulled a face. _Then why are you so good at lying?_

He shrugged and pulled me towards one of the wooden legs laid out near the fire, where he stretched out his shredded legs and visibly sagged. Jack smiled at me from across the fire and waved me over. I shook my head and beckoned him over. He rolled his eyes, but dragged himself up and perched himself on the end of our log.

"How do, Saph?" he asked pleasantly.

"Good thanks Jack!" I said. Jack was genuinely friendly and obviously had no romantic interest in Faro, if his girlfriend Lucy had anything to say about it.

"And how're you, mate?" he asked to Faro. Faro threw me an exasperated look before amiably replying, "Faro Carne. I'm from Plymouth. Staying up in Senara with Granny Carne until Mum's out of hospital."

Jack frowned. He lived in Senara, he was familiar with Granny Carne. "Granny Carne?" he said, "I didn't know you were related."

I was tempted to reply with 'there's a lot you don't know', but Faro beat me to it. "Oh, my grandpa and Senara didn't get on very well. Moved out to Plymouth as soon as he was old enough. We've been there ever since."

Jack shrugged and relaxed back. There was a silence, and it wasn't a comfortable one. "Are you going to grab a drink, Saph?" he asked, awkwardly.

I shook my head. "No, I'm good Jack. You go grab one."

He looked hesitant, so I said, "Is that Lucy coming over there?" His head swivelled and located a dark figure coming down the other end of the beach. He threw me a grateful look and jogged out after her.

Faro looked distressed. I squeezed his hand. _What's up?_

_I don't fit in. I'm sure if I hadn't been there, the two of you would have been in a large discussion._

I laughed. _Jack's a family friend, but he's more Conor's friend than mine. Anyway, I'm not a very talkative person. I don't have many friends. I daydream too much, I reckon. _

He smiled, flashing his perfect white teeth and I leaned onto his shoulder and gazed into the fire. _It's beautiful, isn't it? _I asked him.

_I wish I could say yes, but I'm far too busy feeling scared it'll bite me to appreciate it._ thought Faro, with a scowl. _I'm pretty sure fire is always associated with bad things. No one ever chats about fire favourably on boats. _

I felt a grin come to my face regardless. "It's not all bad," I spoke out loud. Jessie Nanjivey was toasting a batch of marshmallows with a few pokers.

"Hey Jessie!" I said, moving over to her side, "Don't think I could nick a couple of skewers for Faro and I?"

She smirked. "You can borrow a couple of skewers. You can't nick them, Sapphire! My mam will kill me if I lose some!"

I grinned and filched a couple from the bag and stole an unopened bag of marshmallows too. Jessie shook her fist at me but there was laughter in her eyes and I saluted at her before sitting down next to Faro again.

He looked confused. "What are these?"

I smiled. "These are marshmallows. They're a sugary substance and are great normally." I handed him one and he cautiously chewed it.

He nodded. "It's okay, I suppose." He said, "Nothing special."

I shrugged, different tastes and all. "But, when toasted on a fire...well, the taste is greatly improved!"

Faro looked sceptical and I demonstrated, by crouching close towards the fire, keeping my cardigan and large flower shoulder as far away from it as possible. I quickly turned half of it golden brown while the other half blistered black. I brought it back and Faro looked slightly disgusted.

"That doesn't look vaguely edible, Sapphire." He said, flatly, but I laughed and pointed him to eat the golden brown edges. He rolled his eyes but slowly chewed it. I think he must have been surprised, because his eyes nearly shot up to his hair. He looked vaguely nauseated and handed the marshmallow back, looking slightly green.

I sighed, it seemed that he didn't have the flavour for it. Never mind. Just then, I heard giggles roll through the crowd and I turned round. Conor had presented the newly arrived Rainbow with the red ribbon and she now loosely tied a strand of her hair back with it. I smiled. It was endearing, but probably looked strange to the teens of the crowd, who were used to much more flippant relationships.

"Hello Rainbow," I called. I smiled; her red dress looked stunning in the firelight. It seemed to glow and she seemed radiant.

"Sapphire!" she squealed, twirling me around and staring at my dress. "It looks so pretty! I don't think I can imagine your Mum wearing this at all!"

I sighed. The secret was out. This lovely sea-blue dress was my Mum's. She'd never worn it and it fitted me snugly. I'd decided to wear this, instead of spending more of our precious money on another dress, like Rainbow had. "Neither can I, Rainbow, neither can I."

She laughed and as I flopped onto the log, she followed suit. I saw Conor and his mates had disappeared towards the drinks table. "And you must be Faro, right?" she asked Faro and he smiled.

"Someone who knows who I am! This is new!" he said, flashing his white teeth at her.

"Oh, Sapphire told me all about you!" said Rainbow, flicking her short hair behind her ear.

Faro threw me a questioning look and I shook my head imperceptibly. He seemed slightly disappointed but turned around, back to Rainbow. I suppose he tired of secrecy too. "What kind of things?" he asked slyly, as if he were making fun of me, instead of scoping out the situation.

She smiled, oblivious of it all _(or was she?)_, "Oh, she told me how pretty you were, and I can see that! She said you were one of the nicest people she'd met and that she really loved you." Now her tone grew serious, and I wondered more than ever whether she was as oblivious to the tension as she acted. "She also said that you came from a dangerous place. At least, Conor did. So, it can't be Plymouth. You come from somewhere else. Don't worry, I won't ask where. I know to mind my own business. Though, I have to ask, is the danger there over?"

Faro paused. "The main danger is done. Rebuilding will take many years. And re-establishing trust; that will take even longer. I...I don't think I will be able to forgive easily."

Rainbow looked comforting. "Forgiveness comes with time. If they are truly sorry and they are trying to repent, you'll see it and you'll want to forgive them." I smiled, I think Rainbow was truly good with people and advice.

Just then a loud uproar came from everybody. I stood up and I felt my entire mouth frown in displeasure. Brilliant. Just what this party needed, the kids who thought they were all that. I frowned as Josie Sancreed and her brother Michael sauntered onto the beach along with all of their gang. They had been fine when they were younger; a bit bratty sure, but everyone knew each other and were generally polite. Now, things were worse. With the arrival of Michael's last year and the St Pirans kids, things escalated. There were now two clear sides to the school and while the teachers hated it, they couldn't do anything about it. I scowled, they were now outrightly mean and I was sure that they were directly responsible for Rainbow being teased.

"How cute!" cried Esther Liveny, her hands flung into the pockets of her designer shorts. "A little ickle baby beach party!"

Josie laughed. "So lame, all of you. So tame. I bet you wouldn't know the meaning of fun if it hit you in the face!"

Katie looked annoyed from where she was changing the records. "Go to hell Josie! You had your party on Friday, leave us be!"

Michael laughed. "We won't be here long, don't feel threatened, ickle child! We just wanted to extend an offer of some real fun! We're going waterboarding. Anyone who isn't a loser can feel free to join us! There'll be alcohol, music that's actually been made in the last 20 years and something that's actually interesting!"

Jack scowled and threw a marshmallow at him. "Go away. You're absolutely daft! The sea will eat you up alive! There aren't any surfers out here at all, and that's saying something! There's always surfers in winter! Go home and do something productive!"

Nearly everyone cheered along with him but Rainbow and Faro were quiet, if a tad confused about schoolyard politics. Faro tugged at my sleeve. "Sapphire, we have to stop them. Like the Jack boy said, the sea will eat them up alive. Ingo is not happy today."

I shook my head. 'They can't be reasoned with, Faro. They think they're invincible and they don't care what you or I would say. Maybe an injury would instill some caution in them!"

He looked unhappy but acquiesced when I squeezed his hand. Rainbow had moved away, presumably to go and dissuade Conor from doing anything foolish, like punch Michael. I sighed. This party wasn't going nearly as well as Katie would have hoped. It had been a little fun, but people were dispersing now. The wind was getting stronger and of course, there was the overlying threat of being targeted by Josie's gang. They had moved away a little distance, closer towards the sea, but I could still see Josie's taunting face and it made a hot angry feeling rise in my stomach.

I looked round and saw that Jack and Lucy were going to leave. "Faro," I said, "I'm just going to go say goodbye to Jack. Why don't you talk to Mal?" I said, pointing out the dark-haired boy. He nodded and made his way over there, agonisingly with his crutches.

I walked over to Jack and to Lucy. "Hey guys!" I said, "I hope you had a good time. Are you heading home now?"

Lucy smiled, tucking a brown curl behind her ear. "Oh yes, it's getting late. Who knows what my dad will say for staying out this late. It was good to see you, Saph! Have a good Christmas!"

"You too!" I said and Jack waved pleasantly as they made their way out.

I walked over to Katie at the speakers, where she packed up, along with a dark-haired boy, whom I was convinced was called John, but I couldn't be certain. "Hey Katie," I greeted as I perched down to help her pack the records. 'How's it going?"

She sighed, and plopped herself in the sand, her shoulder length, light brown hair curling over her shoulders. "Not as well as I hoped, if I'm honest. It was going okay, but y'know, the weather isn't great and...well, it's getting late."

I knew what she wasn't saying and I nodded. "It'll be okay, Katie. There's always the summer."

She smiled, weakly. "You'll be heading off soon then?"

"Yeah, Mum wants us back before 11, so I ought to be leaving soon and I'll get back 10. A bit early, but, god knows that Conor will dither about laundry."

She laughed and smoothed her hair back. "Okay then Saph, in case I don't see you later, Bye bye! Merry Christmas!"

I waved back and looked around to locate Conor. I found him perched on a tidepool rock, swinging his trainers over the shallow pool. I could see a red crab scuttling around there, underneath the thin veneer of algae. "What are you doing Conor?" I asked him. He seemed to be intently focusing on the rockpool. "Where's Rainbow? Why aren't the two of you canoodling?" I grimaced at my choice of words; now Conor had me talking like an 18th century lady.

"She's gone." He said dully. "We had a fight and she went."

I felt my eyebrows raise. "_You_ had a fight?"

He scowled at me. "Yes Sapphire! For your information, I'm not perfect. I can and do get things wrong. Oh god Sapphy! What do I do? I didn't mean to upset her!"

I patted his back, relationship problems were easily fixed with a hug, a sorry and a gift. Then I sniffed and frowned. "Conor," I asked, "Have you been drinking?"

He looked annoyed again. "Yeah. Mal offered me a drink. Or two. Or three. Said it would drown away Rainbow and her tantrums. But she doesn't throw tantrums, now I think about it. And I don't want to forget her!"

I sighed. Brilliant. A drunken Conor. Granted, he wasn't full out drunk, just a little tipsy, but how I would explain this to Roger and Mum, I didn't know. "What is Mum going to say? And on that note, how will you deal with the hangover?"

He threw me an annoyed look. "Mum's still working, even if it is half-term. I'll wake up late and she won't notice. And she won't know, unless you say something."

"Or if she comes anywhere near you!" I protested. "If I could smell it in this wind and with the smell of the sea, then Mum and Roger in a cottage are most definitely going to be able to smell it!" I snapped.

He sighed desolately and put his head in his hands. "I screwed up, didn't I?" he said to me, his voice slightly muffled. I softened a little. I suppose that Conor was allowed the occasional mistake.

"We'll deal with that when we get there," I said. "For now, I suppose we'd better get Faro and go home. We'll deal with everything tomorrow. A good night's sleep would infuse some sense into you."

He laughed sarcastically. "Haha, Sapphy." I smirked and patted him on the back, before turning to scan the stragglers left behind. Among them, I couldn't see Faro. I swirled frantically, I couldn't have lost him so quickly! I spotted Mal sitting by the fire. I grabbed Conor and dragged him towards Mal.

"Mal! Where's Faro gone?" I asked fiercely.

He looked slightly dazed. "The strange dude with the crutches?" he asked and I nodded. "He was talking about the sea and Josie's gang and how they needed to be warned about the angry sea, and I was all for it man! Peace to everyone and all! Though, how he got the sea was angry, I dunno. Whatever he's smoking, I want some!" he said. I scowled; he was far more drunk than Conor. I didn't even want to know how he'd gotten his hands on alcohol, but I wasn't sure it would be legal. I don't know how Conor managed to misjudge Mal. He and his dad had seemed pretty decent, but who know?

I slapped him. "You idiot!" I hissed. He looked pretty shocked. "I hope you are nicer when you aren't drunk because you sure are a jerk when you're drunk! You sent Faro, a boy with crutches who knows nothing about school politics against the biggest bullies there are?"

He looked unaware of it all and I shook my head in disgust. Conor looked more serious now. "What do we do now, Sapphy?" he asked, and though it was probably the wrong time, it felt good to be the one that lead the mission for once.

"Obvious, isn't it?" I said, as I started jogging towards the retreating mass of bodies that were Josie's crew. "We get him back. And stop him from touching water if we can."

I then heard a splash in the distance. Conor and I exchanged grim looks and started running. I could feel sand slipping through my sandals onto my toes, but any discomfort was worth it, as long as Faro was still on land when we got to him.

Luck wasn't with us. As we drew nearby, Faro was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed Josie's hoodie from the front. "Where the hell is he?" I screamed at her and she looked terribly shocked. Esther looked ready to interfere but just then Josie smirked.

"I don't know who you're talking about. Put me down or my father will hear of this." She said.

I snarled. "You know exactly who I'm talking about, you bitch! What did you do to Faro?"

She merely looked cool. "He was being lame, talking about how the sea was angry, of all things! So we thought we'd re-unite him with his precious sea. Michael chucked him in."

I dropped her and I knew my face must have gone pale. I heard a sharp crunch and knew that Conor had punched Michael in the face. In any other occasion, I might have reprimanded him for unnecessary violence. But I hadn't time to worry about that.

I stripped off my cardigan along with my bag containing my mobile phone. "He can't swim, you fool!" I said to Josie, shoving the cardigan in her face. "Didn't you stop to think about WHY he was in crutches! By the way, if any of this is ruined or broken, you'll pay for it." I said, as I pulled off my sandals and also folded those into her hand. I quickly pulled off my tights and waded into the water as quickly as I could, before diving.

I was buffeted between the waters. I had to sharply dodge, to avoid an incoming rock and I could barely focus my mind on finding Faro, for so much as staying alive. I felt my hair explode out of the hairspray induced bun, which only clouded my vision. I knew I wouldn't' be able to see him amongst all of this madness.

_Ingo, help me please! I am your daughter! Find your future Guardian! Find Faro! _I spoke in true Mer, hoping that Ingo would respond. I didn't feel anything until my deublek started to burn. It shone an eerie blue, illuminating the waters. I couldn't see Faro but I felt a weak spark in my Ingo radar.

_Faro! _I called, _Can you hear me, kerenza?_

I didn't hear an audible response, but felt a stronger spark in my head. I swam towards where I could feel it and the deublek lighted my way. I saw a similar glow further out to sea and I pushed myself like I had on the Crossing, further towards Faro. I saw him immediately. His face was blue, like Conor's had previously been when he first entered Ingo. He was just hanging onto life by a thread. I pressed my lips to his, hoping that some oxygen remained in my body, enough to keep him alive.

I then mustered my strength and circled my arms around his chest. I kicked upwards, hoping to surface soon. To my horror, we were instead buffeted towards a nearby rock. I scowled and dodged out of the way, muttering curses under my breath. I kissed Faro again, breathing what I hoped was oxygen into his lungs, and maybe it was my imagination, but his chest seemed to rise and fall. I tired to surface again, only to be pulled by a nearby current. I battled with Ingo and the pull; the last thing we needed was a current or a riptide, taking me further towards the sea.

I felt my anger build. _ENOUGH! _I roared in true Mer. _Be still! Do you not want your Guardian to live? How can we save him, if he cannot reach the air? Be calm! He will return to you, and drowning him will not bring him back! All he will do then is go to Limina!_

To my surprise, the sea seemed to actually calm. It wasn't happy water, but, when I mustered the last of my strength, I managed to push up to the air. I kissed Faro again, pushing air into his lungs once more, treading water, to balance him up. My arms burned with the strain, but he was more important than I. I dully noticed the deubleks had stopped burning. We were about a mile or so from the shore. Conor and the rest of Josie's gang were mere specks in the distance. I scowled and started swimming. My hair flopped over my shoulders and face, wet and finally flat with the weight of the water. My dress was ruined. The flowery thing had been ripped off my shoulder by the current's power and my dress's frilly layers looked stained and soaked. My Mum would be furious.

On top of all that, the weather diced to pour it down. I sighed and carried on pulling Faro. I knew it was late now. I could feel the sleep pulling at my eyes and arms, and the air seemed colder than ever. I wanted nothing more than to slip into Ingo and sleep on a calm current leading out to the Pacific. But I knew it wasn't possible. I imagined my dear whale, with her funny jokes and how she carried on through being attacked by a squid. I could carry on pulling now!

"Wake up, Faro," I whispered, a small sigh. Finally, the shore the seemed closer. Conor was an individual figure rather than a blob. I shouted to him, using the last of my energy. I kept my feet treading water, losing the energy to keep pushing forwards. Faro sagged in my hands and I kissed him again, pushing oxygen into his lungs (or carbon dioxide, a voice suspiciously like my Science teacher, whispered).

I blinked tears away and started pushing towards the beach again. I would get him to the shore. I would. Maybe if I said it enough times, I would believe it. I swam ever closer, until I could feel sand near my feet. I stood up and started wading, pulling Faro with me. Conor came to support me and together, we pulled Faro towards some dry rocks. I rubbed my shoulders; he was safe. He was safe. But then something Granny Carne had said before rung clear in my mind.

I swore and rolled up one of his trouser legs, as quickly as I could. I swore again as I saw his wounds were now open and bleeding profusely. I wondered how long they had been bleeding for. I heard gasps and hisses from all of Josie's crowd. They all looked pale and I knew that when it came down to it, none of them would have the heart to do this on purpose. They were bullies, not criminals.

"If I reported you," I said, my voice shaking, "You could get charged with cases of attempted murder. That's twenty-five years in prison." At this, Josie burst into tears and Esther looked close to it. Michael looked shaken.

"But we didn't know he couldn't swim!" said Michael.

"Doesn't matter," said Conor, as he ripped his shirt and started wrapping them around Faro's wounds, "You still threw a boy with crutches into the roughest sea conditions I've seen when there isn't a storm. That still counts, no matter how much you twist it."

Now Esther burst into tears and I heard Liam Doherty breathing heavily. "But we aren't going to report you," I said, "If Faro lives, we won't report you. Now help us with him."

They all nodded. Liam started ripping strips out of his shirt and Michael rooted through his bag to look for anything that might be useful. I turned to Josie. "Josie," I said, 'I need my phone."

Esther shook her head. "I'll do it. I have unlimited credit. What do you need?" she said, flicking out her blackberry from her coat pocket.

I nodded, this was acceptable. "Call Granny Carne." I then stopped. I had never seen a landline in her house. She didn't even have electronic lights, why would she have a landline? " Or call someone close to her house. Tell her to get her bandages ready, tell her that Faro is hurt."

Esther nodded and got to work on her phone. Josie whimpered and I shook my head in disgust. If she was going to inflict pain upon others, she could have the courtesy of facing the consequences with some dignity. I put my jacket around me and slipped my sandals back on. I knew that by tomorrow, I would have an awful cold.

"Conor," I said, placing my hand around Faro's. "He's breathing again, but we need to carry him to Granny Carne's house."

Conor scowled at me. "That's hardly going to be easy, Sapphy. We're in St. Pirans!"

I threw my hands up at him. "Well, we can hardly take him to a hospital!" Conor's eyes widened, and though the others looked confused, I knew perfectly well that he understood.

"What do we do? By the time we get to Granny Carne's house, he'll dry out!" said Conor.

Suddenly inspiration dawned. "Conor, Rainbow lives five minutes away. Get Michael and Liam and carry him to her house. Make your excuses and apologies; we need somewhere warm inside with bandages for both Granny Carne and Faro. Esther, change of plans. Tell whoever's going to contact Granny Crane to catch the bus to St Pirans and come to Rainbow's house. She'll know where it is."

Everyone nodded and got to their respective jobs. I sneezed and frowned. Great, the cold had struck early. Josie still seemed frozen in her whimpering position. I rolled my eyes and slapped her. It felt good and pulled her out of her shock. "Wake up, Josie," I said. I could have been spiteful, but I didn't have the energy. "I told, you, we aren't going to report you if Faro lives. Go make yourself useful."

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and followed the trail of boys carrying Faro up and away from the beachside. My legs burned, but I kept walking. There were only five minutes till I could collapse in a comfy chair. Five minutes until a warm fire and the smell of home. Five minutes until Rainbow's happiness. Five minutes till everything was okay. With those thoughts, I picked up my pace and walked away from the beach, not looking back once.

**AN: Wow, majorly long chapter. I'm so tired from writing this. I think I want to go to sleep at Rainbow's house! Please review! I love all and any responses! I don't know when the next chapter is going to be released, because I'm going to update a Lightning Can be Warm chapter soon. Don't forget to visit the Ingo forum and the Away-In-Ingo DeviantArt page!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 6**

**AN: After Dalek Week, I realized that I could write around 40,000 words in around 7 days. That's something. I'm still in shock at how adept I was at writing Leviathan fiction. So I thought I'd try for that kind of thing here. Thanks for all the positive feedback from normal reviewers and my anonymous readers (you know who you are).**

I sighed as we reached the door. Vaguely I could hear Conor and Rainbow arguing, but I didn't have the strength to listen in. All I could hear was the sea calling, and it took all of my self restraint to not dive back in.

_Faro…_I called and I felt his mind eagerly respond to my call.

_Stay with me…_ I said. His spirit agreed, without using words.

"Sapphire? What happened to you? You look a mess!" Rainbow's exclamation broke me away from Faro's mind.

"I retrieved Faro from the sea. You don't have a towel, do you?" I asked. The cold was starting to set into my skin and I had goosebumps all over my arms and legs.

Rainbow nodded, her blonde curls shaking and she darted back into her house. I shut the door and walked into their living room. A fire was blazing and Patrick sat in the couch, nursing a cup of coffee.

'You look like a drowned rat." was his first comment and I threw him a dirty look.

"You're one to talk," I said and he laughed.

"Where are Conor and the other boys?" I asked, resisting the urge to collapse into their armchairs.

"In the kitchen. The brown guy is bleeding like crazy." said Patrick, quite candidly.

"You know? I got that." I snapped. Before Patrick and I could get into a sarcasm battle, Rainbow rushed back with a towel and wrapped it around me.

"Have a seat Sapphy; I'll just get some hot chocolate from the kitchen as well. I think we're going to need it." she rambled, sounding quite flustered.

I took a seat close to their fire and shivered a little. "When's the doctor arriving?" asked Patrick after a moment's silence.

"Granny Carne's coming. She'll know what to do."

Patrick frowned and I remembered that they weren't from Senara. Even the environmentally-ignorant Sancreeds and their friends knew that Granny Carne was more powerful than they could fathom. It was something you just knew, if you had been born there.

The doorbell rung and I was internally surprised at how quickly she had arrived, but was grateful. I went to open it, a weariness setting into my bones and numbing my mind. She was there, her long brown trench coat wrapped around her, with her yellow rain hat as the rain poured outside.

"Sapphire. We must stop meeting like this. You have to ask Faro to take better care of himself. How bad is it?" she asked stepping inside the hallway.

"Worse. He's probably freezing and he's bleeding just as badly as last time," I said as I led her in. Patrick nodded to Granny Carne as we passed the living room into the kitchen. Michael Sancreed and Liam Doherty seemed to be bandaging Faro's wounds quite effectively.

Dimly, I remembered that Liam had wanted to be an army medic, because his mum had died from an infected tourniquet in Iraq. Strange the things you remember on the edge of exhaustion.

"Stand aside boys," said Granny Carne as she came in. "I'll deal with it from here. You all go home now. I wouldn't advise you to make good fun of the sea again. There'll not be someone to save you next time, mark my words."

The two boys paled and nodded. Esther looked ill and Josie was sitting in the corner of the kitchen, still in shock. I resisted the urge to slap her this time round. They all said their condolences (He's not dead yet, fools!) and left, in an awkward way. Conor hadn't stopped with the warm towels to Faro's face and I felt myself grip his hands.

"You too." Granny Carne said, as she placed her coat on a chair. "I'll need to be alone for this. I'll call for you when I need your help."

Conor and I nodded and along with Rainbow, we trooped into her living room. I sunk into the armchair where I had sat before and gazed into the fire. It flickered with an odd rhythm, almost like the rhythm of a breathing pattern. I was vaguely aware of Conor and Rainbow seeming to be friends again out of the corner of my senses, but I was focused on the fire, now. It looked a little like the centre of the earth I had glimpsed; warm and welcoming. Like Ingo would be if I went there now.

_Sapphire….._

I nodded off into blissful sleep and blackness, thankfully without dreams.

(X)

I was woken up later by a concerned looking Conor. "Granny Carne wants you." He said, helping me out of the chair. I was aware that my blue dress was still soaking.

"What's the time now?" I croaked.

"A little past three in the morning. Don't worry," he said, seeing the expression on my face, "I've already called mum and told her about the whole situation. She's worrying about us, but she's fine with it because of Granny Carne being here."

I nodded, a sleepy haze still settled over everything. My nap hadn't done much for my restfulness. I felt just as tired as I had before. Patrick was slumped into his chair, clearly quite awake, though looking tired. Rainbow was curled up on the loveseat like a cat, whuffling away in her sleep.

I walked into the kitchen and noticed that Faro didn't look much better. His wound hadn't stopped bleeding. I blinked as a sudden rush of tiredness came over me. I felt myself slump to the floor and saw Granny Carne's face swim in front of me.

"I knew it. Sapphire, I need you to break your connection with Faro's mind. It's not helping you or him."

I blinked, sleepily. I had contacted his mind, but it usually broke off immediately. _(because Faro closed it down for you) _

I sighed and reached into my brain. Faro's mind didn't need searching for; it was right there. How had I not noticed it nestling there? Gently pushing him out of my mind instantly restored my strength again, even if I still felt like I should sleep for a day and a half.

Granny Carne smiled. 'That should help his recovery a little. He was relying on your strength, so his strength wasn't rebuilding. Now it should. It will be a painful night for Faro, but he should come out alive, only a little worse for the wear."

I nodded, feeling relieved. This was much better news. "I shall be taking him with me home now." She said, as she put her coat and hat back on.

"How?" asked Conor, from where he was seated, mopping towels at Faro's brow.

Granny Carne merely smiled in reply, not answering Conor's question. "You shouldn't head home now. It's just a little late and all you'll do is disturb Jennie. Ask your friends whether you can all sleep here for the night. Come to me again once you are rested."

I nodded, sleep sounded the best option. Conor also nodded, looking a little more reluctant. "Good night," said Granny Carne, and in the blink of an eye, she and Faro were gone.

(X)

All four of us had slept in until noon, so we'd had brunch together with some omelettes and greens before Conor and I headed back to Senara. The dress was unsalvageable, so it headed for the bin, with me borrowing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from Rainbow to take the bus back home.

It was a cloudy day, despite it chucking it down last night, but it was cold, which made me wonder whether our weather was getting back to normal. News had traveled fast about my rescue of Faro. The details were a little changed, leaving out the fact that Michael had chucked him in, but the rescue had remained the same, and everyone who saw me, pressed some money into my hand or congratulated me. I felt myself flushing with all the praise.

When Conor and I reached our house again, Mum was there to greet us and she hugged both of us like there was no tomorrow.

"I can't believe it! You almost died out there! And we'd just had an argument! Oh Sapphy!" With that she burst into tears just hugging me. I looked to Conor who shrugged and motioned patting her on the back. I did it awkwardly, but all she did was cry more. I could feel wet spots begin to develop on rainbow's shirt and I motioned for Conor to go inside at get Roger.

Luckily, he wasn't feeling too sadistic and promptly did just that. Roger came out and pulled Mum off me and told her to get a little bit of a grip, that I wasn't actually dead and that we should calm ourselves down with the coconut cake from Gloria Fortune.

I smiled gratefully at Roger and went to get myself changed into my own clothes. I neatly folded Rainbow's clothes and left them on top of Conor's table, leaving him a note so he would return it to her next time he saw her.

I then headed back down again and was thankful to see Mum back to her brisk self. She was sorting stuff out in the kitchen and I quietly told her the fate of the dress.

She turned around, a blazing look in her eyes. "Sapphire Trewhella!" she said and I waited for the explosion. "I can't believe you'd think I'd scold you for something that trivial." I recoiled a little. This was new. "If that dress was the price to pay for yours and Conor's lives, It was a well-made sacrifice. Heavens know what might have happened down there."

I knew she was thinking of the fortune-teller's prophecy and patted her arm. "I'm okay, Mum. Honestly. I'm not going to go away or drown." _Not like Dad_, were the unspoken words between us.

And I wasn't, I knew that now. I wouldn't be able to do that to her, to Conor, to Rainbow, to Roger or any of the other friends I had here. And I couldn't expect Faro to do that either. Twice now, he'd been in danger, twice he'd been so vulnerable here in the air. He didn't belong here and I didn't belong there. They would have to make do with short-term meetings. It was the way it would be.

And it made a lump come to my throat. Because, what explanation could I give to someone for why I hadn't married or even looked like I'd fallen in love when I was older? "Oh he's there, he's just under the sea?' I'd be put into a mental hospital.

"I'm just heading out to Granny Carne's, Mum! I have to check on Faro." I said, my feet feeling restless. The cottage didn't seem big enough for my dreams.

"Just be careful lovey! And keep your phone on you!" Mum called and Roger gave me a clap on the back as I turned to leave.

"Good on you, Sapphy. That's twice you've rescued someone from deep water. You ought to be a life guard!" he said with a laugh as I walked out of the door. And there was a thought. Being a coast-guard for a living.

I knew what the RNLI did; I could hardly live by the sea and not know. We'd been there for a daytrip once with the school and their lifeboats had always fascinated me, because they looked a lot like the Peggy Gordon. It seemed a heartwarming thought that I could spend the rest of my days saving people from the same fate that had nearly claimed Faro and had claimed my father. Being called to Ingo forever was technically drowning.

It also meant that I could figure out who had Mer blood. If I could patrol the seas and see who was foolishly making their way to the beaches, like Gloria Fortune had, what seemed like an eternity ago, it would be easy to educate them about Ingo. Easy to re-establish relations between the two sides.

That also had the added privilege of no one questioning why I was always wet. I laughed as I kicked a stone down the gravelly pathway down to the Downs. The grass was bogged up with rain and the mud congealed to my boots as I made my way through the tall grass. The world seemed to be in mourning and I frowned as it started to drizzle again. I flicked my hood up and made my way to her front door.

I knocked twice and it swung open. I walked in, making sure to wipe the mud off my feet.

"Good, you come when summoned." said Granny Carne as I walked into the small guest room that was now Faro's. He didn't look like he had recovered at all.

"You didn't summon me, though," I said, as I took the chair she gestured towards, "I wanted to come here."

"You came here because I wanted you here, Sapphire," she said, her voice as hard as ice. I shuddered, it was a scary thought that my will was not always my own.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked, not daring to touch his mind again, in fear that I would not be able to break the connection.

"He will not recover naturally. It is worse than I thought. He will need help. A child of Ingo and a child of Norvys must bind themselves to him. He is half and half and he is drifting in a world that is neither. He needs anchors, or he will never convalesce." She said dully, keeping her hands over his wounds. She was looking older than I had ever seen her before, bent over and shriveled like old Alice Trewhidden.

I put my hand on her arm and opened up my mind and pressed it to hers. _No child, this burden is too large for you to bear. _She said, shrugging off my hand.

_I can take some of it for you! _I retorted and she laughed, breaking the connection. 'I think not Sapphire. You are not nearly old enough, nor experienced enough yet. The strain would rip your mind from your body, leaving you in a worse position than Faro. I am barely holding him together. I cannot do that task myself. You and Conor must go find them, and quickly. Before it is too late."

I nodded, and rose from my seat. I could hear thunder rumbling outside, but there was no time to worry about my hair. I had to get to Conor. A child of Earth was obvious, Rainbow was Earth, Granny Carne had said so herself, one summer afternoon as I'd gazed into the centre of the earth. And there was no doubt that she would be willing to help. She was nice like that.

The problem was a child of Ingo. I had never met a child of Ingo that was true-blooded. I could only hope that Conor had.

**AN: Much shorter chapter than usual, but I wanted to give you guys something and I think the next part would work best as a standalone bit. This story arc is drawing to a close, so the story might end soon, unless you have some suggestions about some fluffy stuff to happen. Things you wanted Faro to react to, people you want Faro to meet or have a proper conversation with, stuff like that. Send me a PM or a review my way if you do!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 7**

**AN: Thanks for the response! Also, thanks must go to whoshallJudgeAngels who has very kindly taken on the task of being my beta reader! Keep reading and reviewing! **

I ran and I ran across the downs, narrowly avoiding crashing into a confused looking Mrs. Nanjivey. The wind was howling ferociously around me, despite the burning sunshine but I ignored it all. I needed to get to Conor, for Faro's sake.

I saw him calmly walking down the beach, a sketchbook in hand. "CONOR!" I yelled, not slowing down as I neared him.

"Sapphy?" he said, as I stopped in front of him. "Calm down and tell me what on Earth's wrong!"

"It's not on Earth!" I said, bent over my knees panting. "Ingo. Faro's dying Conor. He's not anchored to a world. He's drifting in neither of the worlds. He needs to be half and half, like us. A child of Ingo and a child of Earth need to bind him to both worlds."

"What do you need me for, then? I'm not a child of either. I'm half and half, like you." said Conor, tucking the sketchbook and pen into his coat pocket.

"I need to you tell me if Elvira mentioned a child of Ingo at all. Someone true-blooded. A true blooded Mer." I said, perching on the nearby small brick wall.

Conor frowned. "She is a true blooded Mer." He said, as he too sat down next to me.

Now it was my turn to be confused. "Huh?" I asked, feeling completely befuddled. "But she's Faro's sister! And he's most definitely half and half!"

Conor laughed and I scowled. We were back to the normal again. Me in the dark and Conor, the smug idiot who thought he was all that because he knew more than I did. "It's like Saldowr said, Saph. Blood mixes differently. You're exactly half and half. Faro's got a bit more Mer blood in him and I've got a bit more Earth blood in me. Elvira is almost entirely Mer. It hurts Faro a little, a squeezing feeling as he comes out of the water; for Elvira, it's the most excruciating pain you can imagine. After I insisted once, she showed me exactly how much it hurts. I passed out, Saph. It was that bad. She says it's worse, that she relieves it with her healing abilities. If she isn't the child of Ingo, I don't know who could be."

I frowned, I wasn't liking this situation. I had grown to like Elvira a lot more over the course of the Crossing, but there was another pressing problem. "Conor. Faro's dying. Elvira's in the North Pole. No matter how many currents I take, it will take at least two days to get up there and another day to locate her then another two days back down here. Faro hasn't got that long."

Conor nodded. "You have a point. Elvira mentioned someone else. A Bannerys."

The name rung a bell. I remembered from the Assembly chamber. Bannerys, a boy with whom Faro had hunted Orca with. Now a supporter of Ervys. Or not. I really didn't know much about the atmosphere amongst the Mer now. I hadn't asked Faro enough about it.

"How close is he to Elvira?" I asked, wondering whether we could trust him or not.

"Like a brother. Maybe more." said Conor, pulling a face, and I remembered that Elvira and he had been close for a long time, much to my displeasure. It seemed like a long time ago. I didn't hate her now, what point was there? I respected her deeply for her courage and her talents. I'd never be best buddies with her, but I think I understood her more now.

"Then he'd be trustworthy?" I asked and Conor nodded.

"That all?" he asked, getting ready to stand up. "No," I said, "You get stuck with informing Rainbow about Ingo."

"What." Said Conor, his face pale. "Sapphire, I just made up with her yesterday. I'm not ruining that peace now."

I rolled my eyes, such melodrama. "Conor, she knows enough about being in tune with nature. She won't doubt you about Ingo. She'll want proof, but Granny Carne can give that to her."

Conor rolled his eyes at me, and I feigned shock. "I know that much, Saph. She'll hate me and you for lying to her for so long. She'll be angry that we didn't trust her and she'll never speak to me again!"

"You are working yourself up over nothing, Con." I said, pulling off my trainers. We were close enough to the cove. "Look, I'll call you once I've got Bannerys into the cove. You tell me where you and Granny Carne are bringing Faro to. It'll have to be close to the Cove though, if Elvira with her Earth blood of a little reacted like that, I don't know whether Bannerys will be able to stand coming out of the water."

Conor sighed. "Why do we always get stuck with these adventures? Is it too much to ask for a normal life?"

I smiled. "What fun would we have without them? You'd be studying now, if it weren't for all this."

He sighed. "I would be able to pass my A Levels if it weren't for all this."

"Don't be melodramatic." I said, as I tucked my phone behind a rock, 'That's my job!"

With that, I ran towards the cove, yearning to be inside the cool blue waves.

(X)

It was easy to get to the Groves of Aleph, but then I remembered with a sobering thought that not all of the Mer lived at the Groves of Aleph. For that matter, where did the Mer live? Caves seemed like the most likely option but, _blimey_, there were a lot of caves in and around Great Britain. And what if he lived up near Sweden? Iceland? Greenland? Svalbard?

I sighed and stopped swimming. Wasting my energy wouldn't do any good. Faro needed me.

"I'm sorry," came a quiet voice, "Did you say Faro?"

I spun around. A young woman was there. In my horror, I realized exactly who it was. Mellina. I nearly hissed in fury. She was the reason all of this had happened. The reason my whole life had changed. And she was standing here, looking innocent? How dare she!

But as I seethed, I realized that I couldn't blame her. My life was better now. Mum was happier than she had ever been with Dad, I could see that now. Roger was good for her. Conor and I had found Ingo, and I didn't know where I'd be without those life lessons. Dad leaving had prompted us to move to St. Pirans where Conor and I had met Patrick and Rainbow, the best friends I could have ever had. And Dad had had a good life her too. He'd had Mordowgri and Mellina seemed genuinely kind.

Then I realised I hadn't said anything aloud. Mellina looked sheepish. I realized that she'd just been reading all of my thoughts and hurriedly closed up my mind.

"I'm sorry about that," I said, not insincerely, "Yes, I was thinking about Faro. He's…not well. I need to find someone called Bannerys to help him."

Mellina smiled, a faint smile. She wasn't a beauty, not the kind of person you'd expect to steal a father away, but she had a sweet, good girl charm. "I know where he lives. Would you like me to take you to him?"

I almost asked for her to just give me directions, but schooled my thoughts viciously and nodded. She must have some ulterior purpose for wanting to come with me.

We swam in swift silence for a bit before she opened a conversation. "You're Matthew's daughter, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yes. I am."

"You don't look much like him." I bit back a furious response to that question. I knew I didn't look like him; Conor had been Dad's double in looks. But in personality, everybody had said that a copy of father's soul had gone into me.

"No, I look like my mother." I said, a little of my bitter tone escaping into my voice.

Mellina winced a little. "Faro told me once that you were bitter over it. That the bonds of marriage were stronger among humans."

I felt a stab of anger at this; how had it been Faro's business to tell her everything about me? Why should she care? "I'm over it now. Everything changes."

"But you aren't." she retorted, her voice the loudest it has been in our impromptu conversation. "I heard it in your thoughts, you hate me! Why?"

"Why do I hate you?" I spat, my eyes burning, "One year of my life was taken away by you! One year of solitude and desperation. It might have been closure for all of us if he had died, but he was alive and he'd swanned off with another woman and had another child! And he didn't even have the courage to tell us! He didn't have the courage to break it off! If you hadn't taken him away from me, we would have been a whole family!"

"But none of that is my fault!" protested Mellina. "It sounds more like you hate your father!"

I turned on her, my face contorted into fury. How dare she blemish my father's soul! Then I saw exactly what she was saying. I wasn't blaming her. I was blaming dad. My daddy. Why did he have to go away! Why did he hurt Mum so much? Why was he an idiot. I felt myself deflate and I could feel my eyes pooling over with tears.

But I pulled myself from it. My parenting issues weren't the main issue here. "Where's Bannerys?" I said, my voice shaking with the strain of not heaving wracking sobs.

"There." said Mellina looking concerned, pointing towards a large cave with purple fronds swaying outside the entrance. I didn't want her pity, so I swam towards the cave.

There was nothing to knock on, so instead I let a trickle of my thoughts escape. Not quite as tight as a clam shell, but ready to snap shut like a venus fly trap. "Hello?" I called.

The cave was well decorated but I didn't see anyone around to occupy it.

"What do you want, human?" demanded a cold voice from behind me. I sighed, how had he managed to escape my notice?

"First things first," I said, glad the shakiness in my voice had disappeared, "If I were human, I'd be drowning and/or dead right now, so I'm obviously not human. Secondly, how the hell did you get behind me, anyway? And third, I'm here because Faro needs your help."

I turned around to see an oddly pale-looking merman with mousy brown hair tied back with what looked like seaweed. He also seemed to have a oddly white tail with strange black splodges along it. He was holding a spear, which made me frown, because didn't the Mer look down on cold iron?

"I'm very quiet. And everyone usually doesn't notice me. But Faro did…..Why does Faro care about me? He ran away from me when I came to apologise. And…I betrayed him." He whispered, lowering his spear.

I decided being blunt was the best option. "He's dying." I said, knowing that it was true. I could almost feel his pain if I strained to touch his mind….

"Faro? Not he. He was mauled by the Orca and still he didn't die." said Bannerys, looking paler than he already had (which I hadn't thought possible.)

"I didn't say he was dead, I said he was dying. I need you to swear a blood oath with him to make sure that he is grounded in both worlds. That he was a link to both worlds. A child of Ingo." I snapped, impatient with his floundering.

"He will not want me." he said again and I suppressed a sigh from all of the angst that rolled off the boy in waves.

"Trust me, he'll want to talk to you. He was distraught that you had gone to Ervys." I said, feeling tetchy with him now.

"How could I not go to Ervys? He was my father!" he said, looking distraught and even I couldn't suppress my gasp at that. Ervys had killed my father. But he was Bannerys' father? It didn't make sense. That a father could deprive a child of his father. And could I really trust him now?

"Can I trust you?" I asked him. Dancing around the issue would only endanger Faro's life for longer.

"I don't know!" said the boy, looking alarmed. I had to suppress an exasperated sigh at this statement.

"You either know or you don't! " I said harshly, "Are you going to be loyal to Faro or to your dead, traitor father?"

He threw me a panicked look and I sneered at him. "Hurry up!" I snarled.

"Okay, okay! I'll do it! I'll help you!" he said, looking alarmed at my expression.

I smiled as sweetly as I could. "Great. Let's go, we're wasting time here."

He lookedsurprised by my sudden mood change but followed me obediently, still holding the spear like an anchor. Mellina was waiting outside looking quite perplexed by Bannerys looking like he'd just kicked a puppy.

"If you could help us catch a current back to my home, that would be very helpful," I said to her, as civilly as I could.

"But of course, Sapphire. Anything for Faro. Do you think his sister would want to be here?"

I sighed as we swam as quickly as we could. "She would want to be here, but we haven't the time to fetch her. We can tell her once his life is out of danger."

With that, I kicked my legs with vigour as we dove into a fast current heading back upwards towards England.

(X)

Mellina had been as good as her word and had dropped the two of us off at the cove. "You will tell Faro that we all wish his recovery? All of the Happier Kindred."

I nodded, words not being able to suffice. She raised her hand before swimming away. Bannerys looked uncomfortable "What do I do?" he asked.

"You stay here. Unless you can come out onto the rocks?" I said.

He shook his head, looking annoyed. "I can't. Only those with Norvys in them. Not me."

I nodded. "Stay here then." With that, I swam upwards and out onto my cove. I was dripping wet and cold, but time seemed to have passed one-to-one, to my eternal relief. I nearly ran up the steps of the cove to my phone, feeling a sense of deja-vu.

"Conor?" I asked as the ringtone passed.

"No, Rainbow here." Her voice was harder than I was accustomed to.

"Look Rainbow—"

"I knew you were keeping stuff from me, but something this big?" she asked, her voice sounding frustrated, "I wouldn't have believed it if Conor hadn't told me you'd been keeping it from me for this long! I thought we were friends, Saph! You could have trusted me."

"Could I have?" I asked, "Look, you would have thought I was crazy. End of. As it is, tell Conor that Bannerys and I are at the cove. We can get on with the Faro healing ceremony. I snapped. I wasn't acting like myself today, I knew it, and Rainbow's angry "Fine." emphasized just how different I was being. Fact was, I was tired and cold and fed up of having to save the day. I wasn't sure I wanted to replace Conor as head of everything now. Not when it was this stressful.

I opened my mind and searched the area. Granny Carne's mind was like a lighthouse beacon. A flickering one, but still by far the brightest mind on the mind-radar. Faro's was next. Perhaps not as bright, but familiar. It would have taken little to no effort to slip into his mind, but I knew that it wouldn't do either of us any good. I could see Rainbow's mind as well, to my immense surprise, but she was the last person I wanted to see.

It took some effort, but finally, I found Bannerys' mind. Cold and closed off, I wondered whether this was how Faro saw my mind. Feeling rather silly, I knocked on his mind and it opened up.

_Sapphire?_

_This is just me telling you that Faro's coming down to the cove. You won't have to wait much longer._

_We closed off this particular cove half a year ago, did we not? _He asked and I stiffly nodded. It was hard to associate Ervys's son helping Faro.

_Don't say we, _I told him firmly, _You aren't your father. Your father wouldn't have stopped to help someone with human blood. _

_He might have. _Bannerys argued, without any real heat to it.

I merely rolled my eyes and departed from his mind.

I noted with relief that Conor and Rainbow were carrying someone in a hastily constructed stretcher towards us and a tawny owl flew above them. I guess there was no need for Granny Carne to hide what she can do anymore, not with us.

We reached the edge of the beach and Granny Carne looked weaker than I had ever seen her as she turned back into a human. She leaned on Rainbow's shoulder, very dependently, but Rainbow was happy to oblige.

"Now child," said Granny Carne, her voice tired, "Now we must bind. Norvys first. Repeat after me. I'll go slowly."

And her voice morphed to form sounds that were soft, yet guttural. It was slow as promised, and I could hear Rainbow having trouble forming the words alone. But Conor squeezed her hand and immediately it started emerging from her mouth, smooth and clear. I identified the language as Asian in some form but couldn't get any further than that.

Once Rainbow had finished saying the words that Conor identified as Sanskrit, Granny Carne drew out a silver knife. It was small, but still, Rainbow flinched a little. Granny Carne smiled, gripped Rainbow's hand and sliced it. Blood started pooling in her palm and Granny Carne moulded Rainbow's hand to form a cup shape. Once her palm had a small covering of blood, Rainbow gripped Faro's hand.

"Now Sapphire," said Granny Carne, "Where is your child of Moryow?"

"In the water," I said, pointing to where I could sense Bannerys mind.

"Tell him to surface." Granny Carne said.

"He insists that he can't come out." I said, frowning. You needed Earth's blood to be able to surface, right?

"He can," said Granny Carne. "It will hurt him, but he can."

I scowled. Bannerys was being cowardly. _Come out of the water, you idiot! _I shrieked.

_It hurts…_ He whined from in the water and I growled aloud, making Conor and Rainbow look at me nervously.

_Listen Bannerys, Faro is mine. You don't want to know the consequences if my love doesn't awake. You come out now, or I'll come and I'll make you, and it will be 10 times more painful than coming out of the water right now!_

I smirked just a little as he squeaked and departed from my mind. He surfaced from near the edge of the beach, near some tidepools.

Panting, he yelled to me in half-mer. "I can't come in any further! You'll have to bring him here!"

Conor and I exchanged glances and we hoisted Faro's stretcher higher, near our shoulders and waded into the water. My jeans were now soaked, but it didn't matter anymore. Faro.

Granny Carne brushed my mind briefly. _Bind this child of the seas of the world to the half and half to equally keep him alive. _

_What? _I asked back.

_The words you must ask Bannerys to say in full-mer. _She said, her voice sounding young in her mind. I suppose no one ever really considers themselves old.

We laid Faro on a rock and I turned to Bannerys. "Have you still got that spear?" I asked him and he wordlessly nodded.

"Now repeat after me. _Bind this child of the Moryow to the half and half to equally keep him alive._" I chanted, my voice slipping into the smooth, flowing tones of full mer.

Bannerys repeated it and held out his hand with the spear. I grabbed the spear and cut his hand. The blood pooled in it and he seemed to understand without me telling him. He too gripped Faro's hand like Rainbow was doing. Rainbow's eyes met Bannerys and she smiled at him radiantly, like only Rainbow could do. Bannerys weakly smiled back and I understood what needed to happen.

I stood back, grabbing Conor's hand and pulling him with me.

"Sapphy? What's going on?" he asked.

"They have to join hands. That's going to create some sort of energy disruption." I said, not knowing where the words had come from.

"How do you know?" asked Conor, looking slightly panicked. I turned back to him, feeling the same.

"I haven't a clue, brother of mine. I'm just getting weirder and weirder these days." I said, feeling just a little disoriented.

The two extended their hands and touched. There was what seemed like a mental quake that nearly knocked me off my feet. I could see that Granny Carne looked pained behind me but Conor looked fine.

"Saph?" he asked, as I staggered. "What's wrong?"

"How did you not feel that?" I asked, "That mental shockwave?"

He shrugged. "You remember what Granny Carne said. We have our own talents. I could immediately identify which language Granny Carne was speaking in. You didn't have a clue."

I looked at him. 'True that. Let's go see what happened over there."

We waded through the water back towards them and to my surprise, Faro was slowly staggering up in his stretcher.

"FARO!" I yelled, and when he smiled back at me, his white teeth almost glowing, I knew that everything was going to be alright.

**AN: It's my birthday today (Friday 3rd), and I was feeling generous so I not only posted, but I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger. Be grateful. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 8**

**AN: Thanks again for all of the response! (And Birthday Wishes) Enjoy the next chapter….**

"So what part of you have a merman-turned-human bleeding to death in your house was unimportant in your explanation of the events that happened on Tuesday?" asked Patrick casually, as he placed his sunglasses over his face.

It was Thursday and the five of us were lounging in the cove, relaxing in the surprisingly warm winter sunshine. I had noticed that despite Faro being equally balanced in both worlds now, neither the weather nor the plants had changed in their mimicry of summer. Rainbow was wearing a bikini and relaxing on her lounger, the scar from Tuesday still wrapped tight in a white bandage. She was reading some girly magazine, much to Conor's annoyance.

Conor himself was revising for his A-Levels, leaning forward on his towel, muttering algebraic equations to himself, whilst tanning. Faro and I were doing research for my Geography project, on the table we'd brought down so we could have our picnic today, provided by Mum, to get all of us out of the house. Patrick was doing nothing, to his eternal pleasure. Having finished taking his A-Levels before the Christmas break, he was blissfully free from any kind of homework or revision, until next summer rolled around, with his admission in Cambridge. He had only applied, but with Patrick's brains, it was almost guaranteed.

"The fact that it was 'need-to-know'," I said, looking up from my meticulously detailed research on the effect of water pollution on most animals, helpfully being provided answers from Faro's shared memory.

"And you didn't need to know," said Rainbow, a smile on her face, twirling her blonde hair around her finger.

"You didn't know either, Rainbow!" Patrick protested and she merely smirked.

"Yes, but I got told yesterday. And I participated in a ritual. While you were working in the Green Room." She said, smugness oozing from her tone.

"She gets to do everything first." whined Patrick, "Everybody loves Rainbow, and nobody loves me."

Conor looked up from his algebra revision. "When I first got to know you, I couldn't get you to talk. Now, I can't get you to shut up! And to think I used to call you shy!"

I snorted, calling Patrick shy, was like saying that the sky was green. Faro merely looked amused from where he was working.

"Is it always like this?" he asked in an undertone, as he glued down some pictures of dolphins trapped in nest on the paper for me, drowning out the petty squabbling between Rainbow and Patrick.

"Yeah, pretty much." I said, suppressing a smile.

He chuckled and we lapsed into a comfortable silence.

_Only 1% of the world' water is drinkable. By polluting the water that we have, we render the water left for future generations undrinkable. As an idea for more sustainable water use we should.._

I looked up from my writing and frowned. Faro looked pensive, stopped in the act of gluing, scissors upheld in midair.

"Faro?" I asked.

"An idea occurred to me." He said, looking quite fevered as he turned towards me.

"Faro is thinking. Shock horror!" said Conor from where he was scribbling down algebraic equations.

I shot him a dark look and motioned for Faro to continue. "You can't be the only people with Mer blood." he said and I nodded.

"We know. In Senara, there's another lady. Her name is Mrs. Gloria Fortune. She too has Mer blood. The sea was calling to me before the Crossing, and apparently it had called to her as well. She'd managed to make her way down to the cove and had fallen down the rocks, and broken her hip. If we hadn't been there, she could have died." I said, quickly narrating what had happened, curious as to where he was headed with the next point.

"Right, and if there are three people with Mer blood in this town alone, how many in the whole world? You said that 30% of Earth is land, correct?" he said, directing his question towards Rainbow.

Rainbow nodded. "That's right. If you look at a map, the sea is far more expansive than the land. But there are 7 billion people on this planet, Faro. If three, out of the thousand in Senara are Mer blooded, how does that translate to the whole population?"

"Yeah," said Patrick, "That's true, Rainbow. But then, your hypothesis is flawed. Senara is near the sea. How plausible would it be that if you were Mer-blooded, you'd be drawn to live near the sea?"

"Very." She admitted reluctantly. "Especially if the call of the sea is as strong as Sapphy described."

I nodded. "It might not affect you, the further inland you are, though. Our cottage is on the edge of the sea, it makes sense that it would be a strong pull."

"Yeah, but if you are physically drawn to be near the sea when its calling you, that you can even hear it, wouldn't it affect people inland as well? True, it wouldn't be as strong as it is for you, here on the coast, but it would be more subtle. A longing to live near the sea. That's more natural than the sea calling your name. More persuasive than the sea calling your name. That's just scary." said Patrick, playing with his sunglasses as he spoke, and I couldn't help but be persuaded by their argument.

"Yes, but the actual numbers doesn't affect me. It's that they won't have someone there like me or my sister, to help make that transition between Norvys and Ingo. And, that worries me, especially, if this Gloria lady was as close to death as you say. How fair is it to say that we should be able to help these poor people?" asked Faro, playing with the scissor blades absentmindedly.

I frowned at him. "This is really strange," I said to him.

"How so?" he asked back, his sea-green eyes piercing me with confusion.

"I've been thinking about this idea for days. It's why I decided that I want to be a member of the RNLI, the lifeguards who rescue people from the sea. Because, mostly its tourists who don't know enough about being in the water, but then, once in a while, it'll be someone with Mer blood, who heard the sea calling to them. And they'll need someone to explain it all to them. To tell them that they aren't going crazy." I explained, leaning forward, my geography project, now forgotten.

Conor sat up. "I've been thinking about it for days as well. I wanted to start a help group amongst the Mer. To help them deal with humans. Rule 1. Humans are not evil. Rule 2. Don't kill humans. Rule 3. Give humans food because you are nice Mer." I burst out laughing at that as did Rainbow.

"You were so not thinking about that!" I said, pointing a finger at him.

"Okay, so maybe not that in particular, but despite my efforts to put the world of Ingo out of my mind, it stays there." said Conor, frowning now. "It's been playing on my mind, that there were an abnormal number of deaths in the sea now and no one can figure out why. I was wondering whether that might have been Ervys' work."

"Enlighten me here," said Patrick, looking confused. "Who is Ervys?"

"A merman who believed that human blood shouldn't be tolerated by Mer and that humans should all die and that human supporters should just go away and rot in Limina."

"Sounds like Lucius Malfoy." snarked Patrick, but I was staring at Rainbow with a strange expression on my face.

"Conor and I didn't tell you that. How do you know that?" I said, and she looked sheepish.

"I might have a mental connection with Bannerys?" she said, sounding more like she was asking a question.

I suppressed the urge to shake her for not telling me, but I knew that that was hardly fair after keeping a secret from her for two years straight.

Faro sighed. "And Bannerys said that?" he said, looking skeptical.

Rainbow looked a little mischievous at this. "I may have paraphrased it a bit—"

"A lot." I muttered under my breath, Bannerys had not endeared me to him.

"A lot." She said delicately, glaring at me, and I was sure that it was Bannerys who was glaring back at me. "But the crux of it, is that he wasn't very nice."

Conor snorted, brandishing a pencil in Rainbow's face. "That's an understatement. If I remember rightly, he killed a dolphin and my father."

"Then you killed him," I hastily added, "You can't plead being completely innocent yourself."

"An eye for an eye. A father for a father." said Conor coldly, and it was in a voice that I didn't like.

"Human thoughts." said, Faro, dismissively. "Revenge is pointless. But now we've got the explanation of whom Ervys is, over, I think your deduction might be correct. Not just Ervys, his men as well."

Patrick looked pensive. "So what? What do you want to do about it? Talking is all very well, but you've got to do something to mean it."

"Start a group. A foundation for people with Mer blood. Find them and help them understand the world of the Mer." I said, immediately, my voice strengthening.

"They'll have to take the crossing." said Faro calmly, ignoring Patrick's confused look.

"Hmm." said Conor, non-committedly. "I can't see them being able to do it without Mer help. Sapphy and I would have been lost without you and Elvira. We'd need people from the Mer, willing to help them, who haven't taken the crossing yet."

"Speak for yourself, brother," I said, feeling a little impish, "I would have been fine, thank you very much."

"Right, and I'm the Queen of Sheba." said Conor, looking skeptical and Rainbow giggled.

"How do we do this all though? How do we even start it? Where do we start going about it?" I asked. , feeling more than a little overwhelmed by how much we'd have to do.

"Well," said Rainbow, "You can start by having good friends. You can start by passing your GSCEs and going out into the world. You can start by waiting and watching people to see if they have Mer blood."

"What," said Patrick, looking skeptical, "Like a Mer detector? This person has Mer blood. Look, they glow in the dark!" He said, speaking in a strange voice and I couldn't stifle the chuckle at his words. Rainbow didn't bother trying.

"Not quite like that," Rainbow said, and her voice sounded deeper. Presumably, it was Bannerys throwing in his two pennies. "Peoples' minds are a sure sign of whether they are Mer or not."

"It isn't foolproof, Bannerys." I said, rolling my eyes, "Conor doesn't have the mind thingy. Never has, probably never will. But then Rainbow and Patrick do. And Conor was drawn to the sea before I was."

"What mind thingy?" asked Patrick, looking terribly confused. I grinned devilishly.

_Hello Patrick. _I said into his brain and his tight, girlish scream from his chair as he stood up, twitching like something possessed, was more than enough to send all of us into fits of giggles.

After we all gasped for breath and Faro had seen what crying was like in the human world, as demonstrated by an inconsolable Rainbow, who had been literally howling with laughter, we settled back down into a companionable silence as we resumed what we had previously been doing.

The silence lasted for all of five minutes until Conor groaned and threw his algebra book to the ground with a poof of sand. "I can't do this! I can't study with that topic preying on my mind, Sapphy! Why did you and Faro have to bring it up?"

I shrugged but Faro grinned. "Are we going surfing now?" he asked, his white teeth glimmering as he looked terribly excited.

Conor sighed, and then shrugged. "Why not? Come on, let's head back to the cottage, I've got a wetsuit you can borrow. We'll need it; the sea's bound to be freezing."

The two boys loped back up out of the cove and I threw Patrick and odd look. "Aren't you going with them? I thought you loved surfing?"

He shrugged. "Can't be asked. Too nice in this sunshine, to have to brave the freezing cold waters. It may have the summer weather now, but the water is still from the Arctic Circle at this time of year."

I shrugged and went back to copying out some more analysis about the pros and cons of fishing with river-wide nets.

"You know," said Rainbow, "I still haven't forgiven you for not telling me about this before."

I looked at her. She threw me a serious look back, her blonde locks whipping into her face, as a sea breeze ripped into the cove. "But you were talking to me civilly today and yesterday." I protested.

"Yeah, I'm not 'angry', angry at you. But you owe me something." She said, looking very serious.

"Like what?" I asked, putting down my pen again.

"Like information. Why did you choose me as the child of Norvys instead of Patrick?" she asked and Patrick nodded.

"Yeah, why didn't you choose me?" he asked.

"Because you annoy me." I deadpanned and his face fell in mock-disappointment. "No, I'm joking. It's that, you are so strongly linked to the Earth. Patrick enjoys surfing and things to do with the sea. You much prefer being on dry land and horse-riding and normal things! And, I wanted Faro to recover, so I went for the strongest person tied to the Earth." I said, narrating what I hadn't really considered before.

"But there is something more, isn't there?" Rainbow said, frowning. I wondered whether she was unconsciously touching my mind and I closed it up.

"Yes. Once, Granny Carne said, when she showed me the heart of the Earth, just like I had seen the heart of the sea, she said that someone like you, who was tied so strongly to the Earth would walk right in. That was my first clue as to this puzzle piece. Then Faro and you got along like a house on fire. That was surprising, when I first met Faro, we argued about so much about everything. You seemed to click and understand each other. Then, I saw Saldowr. He's the sea's equivalent to Granny Carne. He's getting old and tiring. Faro's going to be the next guardian of the Ingo's heart but I thought that Granny Carne would be never be replaced because she is barely ever tired and old. But then, this past week, after helping Faro so much, she's drained. She's lost the energy. The power of the Earth remains, but the energy is gone. And I knew that someone would have to replace her. And, Rainbow. You won't want to accept it, but that person, is you. That's why I wanted you to help Faro, because you're the next Granny Carne. And I want to the sea and the Earth to be closer than they are now. You're linked to Faro and to Bannerys now, and they are linked to you. You understand each other now. And I don't know whether I did the right thing by linking all three of you together, but, it's done now. And we can't undo it."

I finished my rather long monologue and looked at Rainbow, who looked both shocked and horrified and pleased at the same time.

"Sapphire…" she said, looking conflicted and confused and I merely nodded towards her.

"I didn't know you could think!" said Patrick looking awestruck and the tension was gone between us, replaced with an easy laughter.

"Doofus!" I said, motioning to hit him. He ducked and we all laughed.

"What's going on?" asked Faro as he and Conor came down the rocks into the Cove, wearing full-length wetsuits.

My eyebrows rose as I saw him and Patrick wolf-whistled as Rainbow squeed and started whispering things in Conor's ear inbetween kisses. Much to Faro's discomfort. I started laughing and Faro quickly tackled me to the floor as I wrestled to get back up again.

"Don't laugh at me!" he said, looking mortified and I kissed him sweetly.

"Poor ickle baby! Too embarrassed about what he's wearing. Don't worry, Sapphy will kiss it all better." I said, making my voice sickly sweet and Faro laughed as he touched my mind lightly.

_I love you, Sapphire. With all of my heart and soul. _

_Love you too, silly. With everything I've got. _I said before he kissed me tightly. It was slow, and sweet, his mouth opening to allow my tongue to map his entire mouth.

"Ahem!" fake-coughed Patrick, as he looked slightly annoyed. Faro and I broke apart. "Weren't you going to go surfing? I didn't know that wetsuits caused instant attraction."

I laughed. "Jealous Patrick?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.

"No, he's bitter," said Conor, laughing as Rainbow finally let go of him. "He hasn't got anyone else to love."

Patrick crossed his arms and sulked in his chair, as Faro and Conor grabbed their boards and ran towards the sea. Conor exaggerated his movements so Faro could copy it and they swam out into the main bay.

"There they go." said Rainbow, a smile on her face.

I nodded. "If there was a sunset there, this would make this seem like some kind of perfect ending to a movie."

Patrick snorted. "It would be a strange movie!"

I laughed. "It's a strange story! Imagine people's reactions if we put on it, 'Based on a true story'. They'd think we're nuts!"

Rainbow giggled. "Isn't that the best impression of you for people to have?"

I like to think that our laughter at that phrase could be heard for miles.

(X)

It was evening of Thursday and we were dripping ourselves back to Granny Carne's house. Conor had come out soaking wet and decided it would be a good idea to try and hug all of us. He'd gotten Rainbow instantly, got me with some difficulty, but Patrick had long since escaped to the safety of our cottage, refusing to open the door so we could get some towels.

He'd only let Rainbow in, but kept the rest of us out. We'd rolled our eyes and gone to drop off Faro at Granny Carne's cottage. We'd deal with their treachery later, while watching a movie, before we all headed to bed. (They were staying over, after a request from Mum, after she'd found out that their parents were on holiday again, leaving Rainbow and Patrick behind)

Conor looked pensive as we squelched along the main road, to surprised looks from people in cars. "What's up, Conor?" I asked, thinking nothing of linking arms with Faro, now that we were soaking wet.

"It's Christmas soon, isn't it?" he asked and I felt surprised.

"It is, isn't it?" I said, feeling shocked. I had totally forgotten in all of the goings-on. "In about a week, right?"

"Yeah." said Conor and I felt a little non-plussed. Then I panicked as something dawned on me. "We haven't done present shopping yet! We'll have to go tomorrow!"

Conor laughed. "I wasn't actually thinking of that part of it! But yes, we will. Don't tell Rainbow we're going tomorrow, okay? I want to buy her something special. Actually, I was thinking of how we usually end up with white Christmases, yet, this year, it's a tropical Christmas."

I nodded, tropical Christmas was the best way to describe it. But I was distracted by a tug on my sleeve.

"Mer person in the vicinity? What's Christmas?" he asked.

I paused. How would you explain Christmas to someone who didn't know about it. Luckily, Conor was brilliant, as always.

"It's a celebration of the birth of someone who was very important to the religion, Christianity." He said, "You have heard of Christianity and religions, right?"

"Yes," said Faro, nodding, "It's another human way of reassuring themselves that magic can be controlled and isn't dangerous and that they don't actually have to make decisions because someone is watching over for them, making sure very decision they make is supposedly leading them to enlightenment."

I snorted. "That's a pretty good way to describe it actually. You'd probably get murdered by someone who was actually religious for describing it that way, but yes. Pretty much."

"Yes, well," said Conor, who was fairly religious, "On Christmas, a boy called Jesus, who was known as the embodiment of the Son of God was born. There's a whole nativity story around it which is quite charming, but I won't bore you with the details, because you and Sapphire are far too cynical for your own good."

"Like you aren't cynical!" I retorted.

"Well, not to the extent of you two. Anyway, Christmas is a time for companies to make lots of money, because everyone gives each other gifts to show their appreciation for getting two weeks of school and work. So everyone goes into shopping mode and starts buying presents for everyone and obsesses over whether its right for them or not. There's a whole culture around Christmas, with a fat man dressed in red, called Santa Claus who supposedly delivers presents to all of the children in the world. People like singing songs on the street everywhere, so if you come with us into town tomorrow, you'll probably see lots of them, singing what are called carols or filks about Christmas, for money, of course." said Conor listing off some of the more annoying aspects of Christmas.

"But basically, at the heart of it, Christmas is supposed to be about family, and love and spending time together and all of that sentimentality. Also, food. Lots of food. People like eating on Christmas. Mum always cooks a huge roast, which you probably won't be able to enjoy, because you are a vegetarian." I said, looking slightly bored as we made our way through the Downs.

Faro looked pretty overwhelmed. After a moment, he merely said, "You humans are strange." I couldn't argue with that, so we headed our way to Granny Carne's house in silence.

"When are you planning to go back to Ingo?" I asked, as we neared the front door.

"Whenever, really. Whenever I need to leave." Faro said, as he looked confused.

"Well then," I ventured, exchanging a look with Conor, "Stay until Christmas Day at least. Then we can have some fun, before you go. And we can show you some strange human customs."

Faro laughed. "Why not?" he asked and we both grinned as he opened Granny Carne's door and went inside.

**AN: Yay, I can type faster than I thought! This is a little short, but filled with fluff and funny, and not too much plot. The drama is pretty much over with. Next time, it's Christmas, then Faro goes back to Ingo. Then, will come….the Epilogue. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Reaching Norvys**

**Chapter 9**

**AN: Wow, this is a while. For once, I'm actually writing this story at the time it corresponds to XD It's almost been a year since I posted this. I think I missed the one year mark a while back, but yeah! Last chapter until the epilogue (and then a possible sequel with the characters I barely touched in this story, like Bannerys and Elvira). It's been a great ride, everybody! Thanks for all of the reviews and faves! I really appreciate everything!**

**Oh yeah! Basically, if Patrick seems a little off in this chapter, it's because he's basically channeling all of my emotions about a lot of things. Patrick is the character that I sympathise with the most (and he had all of five seconds of screen time in the book, yay me!)**

"Are you hanging up the stockings on your wall? It's the time that every Santa has a ball! Does he ride a red nosed reindeer? Does he turn up on his sleigh? Do the fairies keep him sober for a day?" Rainbow sung. "Come on, Sapphy!"

I laughed and joined in with the chorus, "So here it is, Merry Christmas! Everybody's having fun! Look to the future now, it's only just beguuuuuuuun!"

Faro looked somewhat bemused from where he was curled up on the sofa. He was reading a copy of Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol after Rainbow had forced it onto him, having figured out that he hadn't read it. Patrick and Conor were currently trying to beat each other on the Xbox in some war game that I wasn't interested in. Rainbow and I were listening to the radio singing Christmas songs and generally being silly.

Though, I justified that we were allowed a little bit of rest this Christmas Eve. After all, we had a long toil ahead of us. A life ahead of us. It wasn't the first time I'd thought about my future this winter, but I did realize that I hadn't ever thought about my profession before this winter. Was I finally growing up? I'm sure that Mum would be pleased.

"I don't see why you like those awful Christmas songs, Sapphy." Conor said, as Patrick rejoiced from winning some round. "They're just some commercial nonsense."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy them. I know that they're stupid." I said, laughing as I collapsed near Faro. His legs were healing nicely and he'd been walking yesterday without crutches, albeit with some difficulty. Once he could reach and the last of the scars had knotted together completely, I knew that he would return to the water and to Ingo. I wonder what condition it was in after two weeks without him.

"You know that Dad would have turned them off and sung God Rest You Merry Gentlemen." Conor said, smiling wryly.

"Fine, fine. Come on Rainbow, let's do Silent Night. Everyone knows that one." I complained and Rainbow grinned.

"But that's boring, Sapphy!" Rainbow complained, "What about Gush Forth?"

"Isn't that a tad sad?" I asked, tapping my fingers against my sweater, "Isn't Christmas supposed to be happy? What about Personent Hodie?"

"No, not Latin songs!" Patrick said, "We're already going to church tomorrow, we don't need more Latin!"

Rainbow laughed. "What about Scarborough Fair? Nice and festivity neutral!"

"How about we let Faro choose?" asked Patrick and Faro looked slightly panicked for being put forth on the spot.

"I don't know any of these songs. You can choose, Patrick." He said, hastily.

"No, not that. What do you sing in…Ingo?" he asked, lowering his voice conspiratorially.

"Mum and Roger are out shopping, Patrick, you know that." I said, laughing, as I scratched Sadie behind the ears. "No need to overexaggerate the secrecy!"

Faro flushed a little. "I didn't do much singing myself. Elvira, my twin sister was much better at that than I was."

Conor grinned. "Come on Faro, you can't be much worse than Patrick. Elvira sounded gorgeous but even you can't be that bad. There's a reason we call them the siren's voices."

"It's okay Faro," I said, "I'll sing it with you, if you really can't do it alone."

Faro rolled his eyes and straightened. He hummed a little to reach a right pitch before he opened his mouth and it sounded like the sea was flowing off his tongue as he sung. I couldn't distinguish any words in full Mer, and it didn't even seem to be in Mer, just a sound comprised of everything of the sea. It sounded a little like Conor had when he had sung to the seals, but there was something more raw and filled with feeling.

I was planning on sitting out completely like Rainbow had when I'd sung the Parting Glass, what seemed like an eon ago, but then there was a certain chord that sounded like it needed someone to come in.

I took in a deep breath and started singing O Peggy Gordon in full Mer. It sounded ten times more haunting and I could feel shivers go up my spine. It almost sounded like the sea, outside the window was singing along with us. Finally, Faro started to sound quieter so I cut off at the last verse and we let the last consonant fade away.

There was silence in the room for a moment. The video game was left abandoned and Conor was simply staring at me, shaking his head, perplexedly. "God Sapphy, are you tempting fate?!" he asked, his face ashen, "Why would you sing that song of all of them?"

I frowned. "You could understand that outside of Ingo?" I asked. I had thought that this was a feat my brother couldn't do.

"How could I not when Faro had brought Ingo here with his voice?" Conor asked, looking angry. "Who knows how Norvys and Ingo will react?" he asked, getting to his feet to glare at the window and at the relatively calm sea.

"They won't react at all." Rainbow said, quietly.

Conor frowned. "How can you be sure, Rainbow? The world works in mysterious ways."

"No, I can be sure, because I made sure that there would be no retaliation." she said, stubbornly. "By the way, that sounded amazing. You two should do a little song tour."

"You made sure…" I said, sounding a little uncertain.

Rainbow looked proud. "After what you said at the Cove, I realized that you were really right and that I had a duty. So, I went to Granny Carne. And she told me how to look after the Heart of Norvys. She said that she'd slowly wean her duties onto me, but for now, I shouldn't need to do much. That she wasn't going to retire for a while yet. Not until someone beginning with an S also retired."

"Saldowr." Faro said quietly. "His name is Saldowr. He's the guardian of Ingo's Tide Knot and I am his _scolhyk_ and _holyer_."

"Sorry, for those who aren't multi-lingual, what does that mean?" interrupted Patrick.

"It means that I am his student and his…closest of kin?" Faro hazarded a guess at _holyer_'s meaning.

I nodded. "Yeah. That's about the closest you can get. We don't really have a word for that."

"You humans are strange." Faro said, haughtily and I smothered a giggle into my sleeve as Patrick looked annoyed.

_Does this mean that you accept that you will have to replace him someday? _I asked, brushing his mind gently.

_It is not a task that I will enjoy however; but there is no doubt that someone will accuse me of coveting his position. When it is his time for Limina, you and Conor will come into Ingo, won't you?_

_Of course, _I say, brushing my hair back, _I'll drag him there kicking and screaming if I have to. Or I'll get Rainbow to coerce him there. _

Faro laughs and I smile a little. Patrick rolls his eyes. "Is it the freaky mind-reading thing again?"

_It's not freaky Patrick. All sea animals do it. It's their way of communication and of passing on memories. _I projected into his mind. He started a little and glared at me.

"It doesn't work that way, Sapphire; evolution and habitual conditioning has placed the instincts that animals have in their brains, they don't 'pass on' memories. We've proved it with scientific tests. Even newborn animals have the same instincts as an adult." Patrick said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But Patrick, how do you know that the mind of the newborn animal hasn't already connected to its mother and has seen the memories that it needs?" Faro asked, a mischievous, toothy smirk on his face.

"It doesn't work that way!" Patrick shouted, looking annoyed. Rainbow laughed and I leant back, grinning.

Just then, I heard the car pulling up in the driveway. "Mum's back," Conor said, grinning. "Come on Patrick, we have one last chance to try and beat the dancing monkey, before Mum will want the news!"

I almost asked, but I decided that this time, I really didn't want to know. I went to open the door, Sadie crowding at my heels, barking a little.

"Hey mum! Hey Roger!" I said, as they trooped in valiantly, past the windy weather outside. However, it was still warmer than a normal winter had the right to be. "Need a hand with the groceries?"

"Sure Sapphy. Can you bring in the vegetables from the back seat?" asked Roger, as he edged in through the doorway.

"Sure thing," I said, slipping on my pumps and slipping out into the blustery weather to get the stuff. The bags were heavier than I expected and it took a lot of energy to drag them into the car.

"Bloody hell, these are heavy!" I exclaimed, as I deposited them in the kitchen, whilst straightening my hair.

"Well, what do you expect, Sapphy?" asked Mum, "When both Rainbow and Faro are vegetarian, what exactly did you think I was going to have but more vegetables?"

I laughed. "Okay mum. Did you get the cranberry sauce?"

"Of course I did. Jennie almost forgot them though!" Roger said, with a laugh, as he shut the door.

Mum huffed and little and Roger pecked her on the cheek as he placed the bags down on the kitchen table. I laughed again. "The remnants of the lasagna are in the fridge. Vegetable lasagna though, because Rainbow and I made it, but there should be more than enough for both of you, if you eat some coffee cake too."

"Oh bless, Sapphire. You've become so organized around the house. If only your grades were as organized!" Mum said, as she started to unpack vegetables.

"Do you need any help, Mrs Trewhella?" asked Faro, as he limped into the kitchen, thankfully distracting Mum from the subject of my grades. Evidently, he'd gotten bored of trying to read through Charles Dickens.

"Sure thing, kiddo. Can you take the three red bags by the staircase upstairs to my room?" asked Roger, speaking for Mum. Mum might have acquiesced enough to let Faro stay over for Christmas, but she was still a little frosty with him. Faro seemed to understand though, and seemed more than content to easily chat with Roger, though I could only dread when Roger would start to talk about his profession.

Faro saluted sharply, something he'd very obviously stolen from my memories. Nonetheless, it made Roger and Mum laugh.

"Okay, sweetie, it's almost nine. You ought to head to bed soon." She said absently. I rolled my eyes.

"Nice try, but I haven't gone to bed at nine since I started secondary school." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Conor barged into the room, looking like he was running from away from the irate looking Patrick.

"Hey mum, excuse me, just got to hide behind you—" Conor gabbled, as he attempted to dive behind Mum.

I laughed and grabbed Patrick's shoulders. "What did Con do now?"

"He deleted the game, Sapphy! The game that we hadn't saved at all but we'd gotten to the boss level!" Patrick wailed, looking inconsolable.

"First World Problems," I said, dismissing it, "It's your own fault for not saving. Come on, switch on the news, then. I want to see what the Prime Minister has to say."

Conor looked at me oddly. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny, Conor." With that, I dragged both of the boys back into the living room, much to my mother's amusement.

(X)

"Wake up, Sapphy!" squealed Rainbow. I blearily opened my eyes and pulled myself out of bed, shoving on my dressing gown. She was already in hers and opening the presents stacked at the end of her bed with fervor.

"Gods Rainbow, you're like a little kid. No need to get so excited." I slurred a little, as I brushed out my hair. "They're only presents. It's not like they're going to disappear if you don't open th—Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

"Nope. I like the handbag, Sapphy, thanks!" said Rainbow, as she paraded around with it in front of my silver mirror.

"There's stuff inside the bag too," I said, grudgingly. As she turned to paw through the belongings, I too turned towards my stack of presents. I delicately opened Rainbow's present first, as she'd opened mine first too.

I smirked just a little, as I saw what she'd given me. "Thanks Rainbow. This dress is really nice."

"Yeah, I think that you wear blue and black far too often, so I got you something in green." She said, "And thanks for the umbrella and the scarf. They'll definitely come in handy! Though…maybe next year." She said, looking a little disconcerted. I laughed.

Upstairs, I could hear shifting, and sounds of thumping and moaning. We stared at the ceiling in uncertainty. A few moments later, a very disheveled looking Patrick popped his head out of the hatch in my ceiling.

"Are you two opening presents now? Faro and Conor refuse to wake up, so if you are, I think I'll join you." Patrick asked.

"Yeah, go ahead, Pat." Rainbow said, and moved the ladder so Patrick could climb down. He dropped down a few boxes, which Rainbow caught with ease before he himself slid down the ladder. Faro, to my surprise, followed him, bringing down the much smaller handful on presents.

"You got up too?' I asked.

Faro nodded, still looking a little sleepy, but with a slight smirk on his face. "How I could have stayed asleep with that racket, I don't know. And in any case, I am curious to see the reactions to this strange human tradition."

"You don't give each other gifts on Christmas?" asked Rainbow, looking somewhat confused.

"One, they don't actually celebrate Christmas. That would imply that the majority of the Mer were Christian, which I assure you, they aren't." I explained, as I opened Patrick's present to me.

"They would also take great insult at the mere suggestion that Mer could be so easily guided by something as presumptuous as a 'religion'. Until a few weeks ago, I too would have taken a great deal of offense at that suggestion." Faro said, as he delicately tugged at the wrapping paper around Rainbow's gift to him.

"Right, and two, the Mer see having possessions as a human thing, that only brings us unhappiness. The Mer live without material possessions. Nothing to call theirs, nothing to keep. Everything is made and discarded at a whim, and shared out among others equally. The only thing that Mer have for themselves are their bodies. Not even their minds are their own." I said, smiling a little at the book that I'd unwrapped. "And Patrick, really? 100 trivia facts that will help you pass your GCSEs?"

Patrick shrugged. "Hey, it came in handy for me. And anyway, you really need it."

I threw a cushion at him. He dodged. Rainbow laughed and Faro finally managed to undo the wrapping paper.

"What is this?" asked Faro, as he looked at the small watch that Rainbow had gotten him.

Rainbow looked a little confused. "It's a watch. It tells you what time it is. It's not electrical, don't worry."

"The human time, that is." I added.

"Human time?" asked Patrick, looking a little worried as he unfolded a t-shirt from his box.

"Yeah, Ingo time operates differently to human time. Sometimes Ingo is slower than human times, sometimes it runs on par, but mostly, it's faster than human time." I explained, as I unwrapped Katie's present to me. It was a bunch of old band CDs and a few of piano music. "I'm actually really curious as to how the watch will work. I wonder if it will stick to human time, or if it will start recording Ingo time."

"You mean that it might suddenly switch? I find that unlikely. I mean, when we switch timezones, we have to manually change the watch. That watch will just keep ticking to the same rhythm it always has, regardless of the passing of time. And actually, that whole theory seems really stupid. It's more likely that time passes at exactly the same pace, it's just that it doesn't feel like it. It's the effect of being in Ingo, that time seems to pass at a different rate, rather than time actually going slower or faster." Patrick said, looking stubborn. "I mean, if time in SPACE remains the same, then time in Ingo will be the same too."

"How can you be sure of that, though Patrick?" asked Faro, as he looked at the watch with a look of slight hesitation. I buckled it onto his arm for him.

"Look, I let you win the animal argument, trust me about being right on this one. Time will not suddenly change or slow down. The arrow of time stops for no one and continues to march forward at the same pace as the rest of the world." Patrick said, looking annoyed.

"Oh but Pats, time dilation can occur; that was one of the things we learnt from Dad, remember? When the velocity of two objects differ, the other will always look like time has slowed. If the water is moving, then, its velocity will be faster than that of Earth, and time will appear to slow." Rainbow said, as she tried on a bracelet from her aunt.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why time appears to get faster." Patrick said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Time never speeds up."

"But it can. If the Earth moves faster and Ingo doesn't move, then Ingo will be the slower time, won't it?" Rainbow asked, looking cheeky.

"But the Earth doesn't speed up time! We'd notice if it did!" Patrick almost shouted, looking annoyed.

"Is it that difficult to believe that Ingo slowed down?" asked Rainbow, eyebrow firmly cocked.

"YES!" he exclaimed, looked almost crazed.

"Calm down, Patrick!" I said, laughing, "It's okay, you know. Not everything has to fit to the delicate order of science."

Patrick frowned. "Yes it does."

"Will you be quiet please?" slurred Conor, as he clambered down form the attic, still wrapped around with his duvet. "Not polite when someone is trying to sleep."

"So you finally roused yourself out of bed!" I teased. "Come, join our humble gathering of learned minds uncovering the gifts of those who admire us!"

"So not in the mood for your melodramatics today, Sapphire." Conor said, leaning his head on Rainbow's shoulder.

"I'll wait until you're awake, shall I?" I graciously allowed. "By the way, thanks for that video game that I'll never play that you'll eventually use because I'm 'wasting' it." I said, as sarcastically as I could. Not that I was too annoyed; we did this every year, buying gifts for each other that were really gifts for ourselves. I wonder what he'd think of me getting him some sparkly notebooks and shoes.

Conor merely grunted in response and I grinned. "What did Conor give you, Rainbow?"

"A carving of Treacle. It's gorgeous, Conor. Did you make it?" Rainbow asked.

Conor nodded sleepily against her shoulder and I laughed. "I didn't think you had it in you, Con!"

"He's not that bad at carving." Patrick said, as he unwrapped what looked like a chemistry kit. "He's not good either, but not bad."

Conor growled and I laughed. It was fun to gang up on Conor.

Faro tapped my shoulder as he stared at another present that Patrick had given him. "And what is this, Sapphire?"

I stared. "Patrick, he lives underwater. How is a torch going to help him?" I asked, as I lifted it up.

"It's a waterproof torch!" Patrick protested.

"Patrick, if even a tiny bit of the electricity escapes, Faro could end up killing himself and all of the animals in the vicinity. He can't take this with him." I said, holding the torch with the tips of my fingers.

Faro now looked pale and was slowly backing away from the device. "You can probably use it while you're here though," I said, throwing the torch to him. He instead cringed away from the torch and it dropped against the floor.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "It isn't going to kill you now. Now all it does is give off light."

"Are you sure? You can't ever be too sure with human objects." said Faro, eyeing the torch like it was kryptonite.

"No Faro, it's going to suddenly sprout legs and start attacking you in about a minute." Conor said, his voice and tone completely serious. Faro turned paler than I ever thought was possible with his complexion. The room was silent for all of a minute, before I could no longer help it and burst out laughing.

Faro seemed to realize what we'd done and frowned angrily at us. Conor and Rainbow were in helpless fits of giggles and even Patrick was chuckling. Faro tossed his hair over his shoulder with a humph and crossed his arms over his chest. "If we could get back to the part where you didn't make fun of someone who doesn't know anything about this world?"

(X)

"Haha, and then what did you do, Conor? Run after them with your walking stick?" I teased, as I finished off the last of the roast potatoes. Lunchtime of Christmas day and one of the best lunches we'd had yet. It was definitely welcome after the long church service that Faro had actually been quite interested by. I had been sure that he would have dismissed it as human tradition, but he'd seemed to really like the stories of Jesus that were told.

"Sure sure, believe in that all you want, Saph. You'll never believe me if I tell the truth." He said, looking serene, as he speared a piece of asparagus from Patrick's plate, having wiped his completely clean of everything, even gravy. Patrick glared at him and slapped his hand.

Rainbow patted at her mouth with her napkin, obviously hiding laughter and Mum only shook her head. "Honestly you two, it's Christmas, give it a rest."

"But mum! Isn't Christmas a time for joy and affection? My way of showing affection is by making fun of Conor!" I protested and Conor snorted.

Mum threw me a look and I shut up, sliding down in my chair a little. "Does anybody want any cake?" she asked, "It's raspberry charlotte."

"No thank you, Mrs Trewhella." chorused the whole kitchen. Roger nodded in agreement. "As tasty as all of this was Jennie, I don't think I have any room for cake."

"Okay then, we'll have it for tea today. Sapphy, come help me wash up." Mum said, standing up and collecting dishes. Usually, I would have complained, but it looked like something was playing on Mum's mind and anyway, I probably had to pay for the snarky remark against Conor.

"Rainbow, can you turn on the telly? The Queen's Speech and the King's College choir ought to be on soon enough." I said, as I grabbed the heavy pots of food and hauled them back to the kitchen.

I could hear everyone laughing as they trooped into the living room and I started running the water now that most of the cutlery was in the sink. Mum came back with the last of the dishes and I poured some washing up liquid into the sink.

"Sapphy," Mum said, looking uncertain, "When we had our argument a few days ago, you mentioned a fortune teller and it made me wonder…where did you hear about it?"

I paused, and looked hesitant. Definitely not going to talk about Australia. That would only serve to scare her. But I'd heard it before from Conor…

"It was from Conor but really, it was from Dad. He'd gone to Granny Carne's and Conor had overheard that part about the fortuneteller. It kind of stuck in my mind." I said, making myself look as embarrassed as possible. It was tricky, but I had gotten so used to lying. So very used to it.

"Oh Sapphy, I don't blame you, but it just made me worry about what you'd think about me. I do hope you don't hate your dear old mum that much for wanting to keep you away from the sea, when I'd loved it so much. But I can't face it anymore, not after what it did to me." Mum said, looking away.

I quickly dried my soapy hands and hugged Mum. "Of course I don't hate you! I could never hate you, Mum, even if I will probably say it a lot when I get mad. I just wish you'd give me more freedom. I am old enough and mature enough to make my decisions. I love the sea and it has already hurt me so much, this I know. But, the sea gives as well as takes. And what it has given me is priceless." I said.

Of course I couldn't put a price on what the sea had given me. Faro, Elvira, Saldowr. The ability to see beyond myself and my troubles, the ability to mindread, the determination to make a change. The sea had broken apart my family, but it had given me a new, stronger, happier family in exchange. How could I not be content with such an exchange?

"I must disagree on the mature part," Mum teased, as she started to scrub at the baking tray. I rolled my eyes and she grinned. "But in all seriousness, if you truly feel that the life you're making now is the right path, Sapphy, who am I to dictate?"

"I know that the path that I'm taking now is the one that I want. No satisfaction would come from being a doctor or a musician or something that prestigious. Not without the sea in my life." I said, as I too started washing cutlery. "I want to be a RNLI lifeguard. That's what I really want and I think I'd be good at it too. It won't be a high-paying job and it certainly won't earn a lot of respect if brought up in conversation, but if it potentially means that what happened to Dad and what almost happened to Faro never happens, so much for the better."

Mum smiled wistfully. "Then, good luck to you, you stubborn child." She said, and there were a lot of unsaid things there. I didn't need to figure those out to see the approval and love in her eyes.

(X)

It is Boxing Day and the sun is shining as per usual in the cloudy sky. And yet, it seems an almost inappropriate backdrop for what's happening. The five of us and Granny Carne are all gathered in the cove. It's a warm day and we just finished having a picnic, filled with lovely food. The last bits of human food for Faro.

Today, he left. Today, he was leaving. It was still slightly unbelievable that he wouldn't be mucking around the house with us anymore. Strange that he'd only been around in the Air for about three weeks and he'd made this much of an impression. Then again, Faro had always been dramatic in everything he did.

I entwined my arm in his and he smiled a little at me. I would miss doing this. Rainbow and Conor were currently chatting with Granny Carne about what being a guardian of Norvys entailed and Faro was chipping in every now and then with the similarities between the duties of a guardian of the Tide Knot.

I really should have been listening, as this was all important information for the future, but I could pick it out of Rainbow and Faro's brains later. I wanted to savour the moments and the feelings and the sensations of being here in the cove. I suppose this was why I was getting so many bad grades in school for daydreaming, but feeling and living was far more interesting than listening to people drone on about topics that I found dull.

"Sapphire, it's almost time," Granny Carne said, "Will you be in the water to help Faro get back to Ingo safely?"

"Of course, Granny Carne." I said. I was wearing a wetsuit under my clothes in case, and it seemed that it would come in handy.

Patrick nodded towards Faro and clapped him on the back. "I don't know you that well, but I wish you luck. I still think that the torch I gave you will be useful."

Faro shuddered. "I appreciate the sentiment, but no thank you, Patrick. I think I shall decline on that particular aspect."

Patrick laughed easily and Rainbow jumped up to hug Faro. "I haven't known you for very long, but it feels like I've known you forever," she said, smiling, "So, I wish you luck as Saldowr's assistant. Hopefully, we'll be collaborating for years to come! Who knows, maybe now that we like each other, Ingo and Norvys will cooperate too!"

"I wouldn't go quite that far," Faro said with a laugh, "There are those whom are very resistant to the idea of humans, but I do hope that our interactions will be a lot friendlier in the years to come."

Conor also pulled Faro into a hug. "I have known you for a while, and I might not always like you, brother, but you're still practically family. Stay safe and good luck. I'll probably visit, though not as often as Sapphy will."

Faro laughed. "I look forward to seeing you there, brother. I will tell Sapphire when Elvira is visiting, you should come during that time." He said, easily.

Conor nodded. "I'll be sure to do that."

He walked towards Granny Carne and their interaction was all through their minds, but Faro pulled her into a hug and I smiled. Really, it was quite something, if Ingo and Norvys could intersect so well. I was starting to wonder really, if the future would be as bright as Rainbow had predicted. I certainly hoped so.

I gripped Faro's hand tightly as he came towards me.

_No goodbyes. We aren't leaving each other forever. It's merely a farewell. _I said, fiercely. Faro grinned back at me and I waved back at everybody, before we waded back into the water.

It was cold and I shivered a little, before I dived into Ingo. Faro took a deep breath and followed me into the water.

_Ingo, I beseech you, his time as human has come to an end. With the power given and granted by the Tide Knot, change him back to his original form. _I said, in full mer. Apparently, all the ceremony needed were for the words to be from the heart, rather than some script. Which made my life easier, but still, I felt more than a little awkward, because I wasn't sure if it was heartfelt enough….

There was a flurry of water and I could no longer see anything. I pushed myself away from the commotion and hoped that Faro would be okay. I crossed my fingers and just kept watching.

When the water cleared, I saw Faro there, smiling, with his tail back, still wearing Conor's old shirt. His arms were dripping with blood like they had been when he'd come onto the mainland, but it was slowly and sluggishly, not at the rapid pace that they had on the land. I swam forward and kissed him gently.

_So long for now, Sapphire. I hope to see you again, sometime soon. But, I have a lot of duties to complete in Ingo that I have neglected for so long. I think I understand now, the idea of responsibility truly. I cannot let Saldowr down. _

_I understand, I really do, _I answered, stroking his cheek gently, _Stay safe and don't worry about any of us. We'll be just fine._

Faro nodded and swam off into the sea. I watched him go for a little while, before I surfaced out of Ingo and waded back into the Cove. The sun seemed much lower in the sky and the only person that was still there was Conor.

"How long was I gone?" I asked, as I wrung my hair out.

"2 hours. Patrick left first, because he had a shift at the Green Room. Then Rainbow and Granny Carne went back to her cottage. I think Granny Crane was going to try and show her how to speak to nadron and to bees." Conor said. "Exactly what were you doing for so long?"

"We weren't doing anything!" I exclaimed, "He changed back, I kissed him goodbye, he left. Ingo must be speeding ahead of us in time." I finished, as I wrapped a towel around me. The temperature seemed to be rapidly chilling and my toes were starting to freeze. I slipped my socks back on and also my shoes.

"Conor, is it just me, or is it getting really dark?" I said, looking up.

"Just you. Come on, let's get back to the cottage. Mum will be wondering where we are." Conor said, putting his arm around me as I started to shiver a little. As we walked, I stole one last look back at the sea. It was calm and soothing. Ingo was finally happy with the return of its Heir.

I sneezed and turned back when something wet fell on my nose. I rubbed at it and looked upwards. The clouds had congregated over Senara and—

"Conor, is it snowing!?" I asked, placing my hands out beside me. A few flakes drifted into my hand and melted there.

Conor looked as bemused as I felt. "Yeah…yeah it is. Bloody hell! It was sunny for the last few weeks and now it's snowing out of the blue?"

I laughed a little. My theory had been right. Faro had halted the seasons. It was snowing now and I was sure that tomorrow morning, we'd wake up to see the garden shriveling and the plants starting to die. If we could see it all, under the snow.

"Mad, this is just…absolutely bloody mad!" Conor said, his face, quite a picture.

"Isn't that how we like it though?" I teased, as we started walk back home. Mum would most likely be waiting with a cup of hot chocolate and Roger would be watching the weird sports as per usual. That was home, that was safe. But then again, so was Ingo. But now I knew, I'd never have to choose. And that was the best feeling in the world.

**AN: So, we finally come to the end. Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2013 is a brilliant new experience for everybody and we all prosper in life just a little more. I personally, am hoping for an all A report card :) **

**Thank you once again to all of my readers and all of the people who made this possible. This is the first multi-chapter story that I've ever finished and it's possibly my biggest achievement in writing yet. Watch out for the epilogue, which will probably be out soon, though I can't make any promises. **


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